A ZIMBABWEAN court has convicted two government ministers for violating the country's laws in a landmark case in which the ministers were ordered to pay back more than ZWG200 million, which they borrowed from critical funds, without seeking prior approval from Treasury. Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Hon. July Moyo and Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Hon. Frederick Shava, were recently sued by Hon. Marvellous Kumalo, a former opposition legislator, who accused the duo of disregarding the provisions of the Public Finance Management (Treasury Instructions), 2019 and that of the Constitution, when they borrowed money from several funds, established by government to assist and cater for the less privileged members of society, without seeking prior approval from the Treasury. In an application, which was filed on 24 September 2024 at Harare High Court, Hon. Kumalo, who was represented by Tonderai Bhatasara of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human R ights, argued that the failure by the two ministers to seek prior approval of the Treasury before borrowing from the critical funds, established by government to cater for the development and promotion of the welfare of children and protection of children and young persons including to cater for the welfare and needs of aged people and to also support some skilled workers, is unlawful and is clearly against the principle of transparency and accountability guaranteed in section 298(1)(a) of the Constitution. The former St Mary's constituency legislator argued that his right to proper administration of public funds that fosters transparency and accountability by government officials had been violated by the conduct of the ministers, which is a violation of section 116 of the Public Finance Management (Treasury Instructions), 2019, which prohibits accounting officers from borrowing money from funds within their ministries for purposes of financing appropriation budgets without prior written authority of the Tre asury. According to Hon. Kumalo, the borrowings were done in a four year period spanning from 2019 to 2023 and were reported and revealed in the Auditor-General's Report of 2023, where Hon. Moyo and Hon. Shava disregarded the provisions of the Constitution and of the Public Finance Management (Treasury Instructions), 2019, by borrowing funds from Sustainable Livelihoods Fund, the Child Welfare Fund, the Older Persons Fund, the Industrial Training and Trade Testing Fund and the Skilled Manpower Trade Testing and Certification Fund, without following laid down procedures such as obtaining prior approval from the Treasury. In filing the application at the High Court, Hon. Kumalo argued that he had been motivated by the need to uphold principles of public financial management as set out in section 298(1)(a) of the Constitution and to ensure that transparency and accountability are respected and that public funds are handled in a manner in which they are not exposed to corruption and abuse. On 18 October 2024, High Court Judge Justice Gladys Mhuri ordered Hon. Moyo and Hon. Shava to reimburse ZWG206 370 840 to the Sustainable Livelihoods Fund, the Child Welfare Fund, the Older Persons Fund, the Industrial Training and Trade Testing Fund and the Skilled Manpower Trade Testing and Certification Fund, within three months. Justice Mhuri ordered Hon. Moyo to reimburse ZWL$515 657 986 converted to ZWG206 368 508 as at 5 April 2024, which was borrowed from the Sustainable Livelihoods Fund within 90 days and for the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister to reimburse ZWL$3 544 915 converted to ZWG1 418 69 as at 5 April 2024, which was borrowed from the Child Welfare Fund within 90 days and for him to reimburse ZWL$153 468 converted to ZWG61.49 as at 5 April 2024, which was borrowed from the Older Persons Fund within 90 days. The High Court Judge ordered Hon. Shava to reimburse ZWL$5 250 converted to ZWG2.10 as at 5 April 2024, which was borrowed from Industrial Training and Trade Testing Fund within 90 days a nd for him to reimburse ZWL$2 123 558 converted to ZWG849.86 as at 5 April 2024, which was borrowed from the Skilled Manpower Trade Testing and Certification Fund within 90 days. Justice Mhuri also ordered Hon. Moyo and Hon. Shava to seek the Treasury's authority for all the borrowed money from the Sustainable Livelihood Fund, from the Child Welfare Fund, from the Older Persons Fund, from the Industrial Training and Trade Testing Fund, from the Skilled Manpower Trade Testing and Certification Fund, within 60 days of the granting of the court order. Source: Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights