not a functional multi-party. In fact, at a practical level that matters in politics, Zimbabwe is a party-state i.e. where the ruling party and the state are virtually indistinguishable. In this conceptualisation then, any deviation or perceived deviation from Zimbabwe as a party-state is viewed as anomalous from the point of view of the ruling class. It is in this sense that any regulations directed at political parties are part of the repertoire for bringing about or consolidating the party-state. The control imperative appears to have been ‘learnt’ from the settler colonial regime especially after the genesis of serious and organised nationalist political movements from the mid-1950s. This era saw the enactment of some of the most obnoxious and vicious pieces of legislation that consciously and determinedly sought to mutilate any signs of active anti-colonial organisations. If the regulation of parties is viewed in two senses – the internal and the external, a cursory look at the framework indicates that political parties are free to regulate their affairs as they deem fit. The state does not interfere at all in the running of the ‘domestic’ affairs of these parties. However, the external dimension of political parties is regulated (if not over-regulated) by the state. The paradox though is that in order to exist as political entities, these parties need not register at all but once they are born, they come face to face with the wrath of the regulatory ambience. According to Sachikonye (2006, 1) the Zimbabwe Constitution, the Zimbabwe Electoral Act (ZEA), Political Parties Finance Act (PPFA), Public Order and Security (POSA) Act and the General Laws Amendment Act – taken together, this corpus of laws represents the constitutional and legal framework in which political parties operate and in which elections are held in Zimbabwe. In addition, the external environment is controlled through such legislation as the rather incongruously named Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Broadcasting Services Act to the extent that these impinge on the capacity and access of parties to transmit their messages to their constituencies and to the political community in general. The Constitution of Zimbabwe has a justiciable Declaration of Rights that enshrines various liberties, freedoms and rights of individuals including the freedom of assembly and association. It is such rights and freedoms that give rise to political parties in the country. The ZEA essentially governs the participation of parties in the electoral processes, including the nomination and polling stages. For instance, the Act requires that at the same time that a candidate registers his/her intention to contest in an election by lodging his/her nomination paper, a deposit must be paid and this money is forfeited to the State if the candidate obtains less than twenty per cent of the number of valid votes cast for the successful candidate. The PPFA is the most salient piece of legislation for purposes of discussing the rules and regulations governing the funding of political parties. The Funding of Political Parties in Zimbabwe In his discussion on funding for political parties in Zimbabwe, Sachikonye prefaces his discussion by observing that: “The viability of parties largely depends on whether they generate or receive satisfactory funding for their activities. Little funding cripples a party’s operations and reach. Clearly, there are major differences in scale in the amount of funding that different parties are able to generate and mobilise” (2006, 32). What is the situation in Zimbabawe? Like in many other jurisdictions, there are both overt and covert techniques of funding the activities of political parties in Zimbabwe. The overt techniques are governed by the PPFA which was first enacted in 1992, amended in 1997, repealed in 2001 and replaced by the present Act. Below, we highlight the evolution of this regulation, its key features and the controversies generated by the legislation. Since 1992, a major source of party funding in Zimbabwe is the public purse. The PPFA originally stipulated that only parties with a minimum of 15 seats in parliament were entitled to party funding. Of particular significance is that in 2001, the Government repealed the old PPFA and replaced it with the present law whose major innovation was the prohibition of foreign funding of local political parties. This was later modified in 1997 to extend funding to a party which received at least 5% of the vote in the previous election. However, only two parties –Zanu PF and the MDC – 20