It is impossible to say that public funds were indeed abused in the four constituencies whose representatives were arrested because no competent court has ruled thus, but the court of public opinion has already convicted them and many other MPs of misappropriating public money.Ĭonstituents have in recent months been unhappy with lack of development in their areas, despite the fact that their MPs received CDF money. The Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs had forwarded to the ZACC names of MPs, including the quartet after it had conducted audits of 65 of the Lower House’s 210 constituencies. Before the Attorney General’s Office stopped the arrests, many MPs who probably knew that their books were not in order had reportedly gone into hiding, fearing arrest. He also allegedly deposited money into an account of a company owned by one of his friends.Ĭharges against him and Ndambakuwa were withdrawn before plea but cases against Machacha and Khumalo are still pending. Mhlanga was being accused of failing to account for $7 680 and also transferring $32 000 into a bank account of a company he owns, claiming the firm had supplied goods for CDF projects in Pumula, yet it hadn’t. The commission also arrested two more MDC-T legislators, Albert Mhlanga, (Pumula) and Cleopas Machacha (Kariba) on similar allegations. The Zanu-PF MP allegedly failed to account for $39 000 in CDF money. Second to be arrested was Magunje legislator, Franco Ndambakuwa. The State alleged that Khumalo, in his personal capacity as an MP and chairman of St Mary’s CDF committee and in exercise of his functions, abused his duty by corruptly using the constituency funds to purchase a Bedford lorry from United Tyre Services without the knowledge and approval of the committee and the national management committee. The prosecution alleged that in November 2010, the St Mary’s CDF committee opened a bank account with Metropolitan Bank and from 12 November to 30 December, Treasury transferred a total of $50 000 into the account. What is certain is that string bands have been popular in Mexico since the colonial era (1521-1810), and that regional variations of these groups that existed in rural areas of Jalisco and surrounding states eventually evolved into what became known as the mariachi.Khumalo appeared in court shortly after. One of these was mariachi music.Īpparent links between the early mariachi and orquestas de teatro, orquestas de cuerda and/or orquestas típicas are just some of the hypotheses that have been forwarded in an attempt to trace the mariachi’s origin and evolution. The massive importation of African slaves into Mexico during the early colonial period, combined with Spanish and indigenous musical influences, resulted in many mestizo folk music traditions. Natives of Mexico, who already had their own highly developed music, were taught Spanish music after the 1521 conquest and were quick to master European musical traditions. The basic instruments of mariachi music are variations of violin, guitar and harp prototypes that were first brought to Mexico in 1519 by Hernán Cortés and his conquistadors.
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