Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga made the shock revelations last week. He said only 60 of the House of Assembly's 210 members had submitted audited reports on their Constituency Development Funds by the deadline.

Finance minister Tendai Biti used the 2011 budget to allocate $50 000 to every constituency for vital developments, noting that the District Development Fund, which was supposed to carry out such tasks, was not fully operational.

Some MPs carried out developments such as electrifying schools, providing generators to clinics, building public facilities and helping the poor. By simple calculation, $7.5 million has disappeared courtesy of the very people who are supposed to monitor the public purse.

Biti said those who had failed to submit reports would not get any allocation next year. However, he did not spell out what would happen if the MPs left parliament without accounting for the money.

Pressure groups and non-governmental organisations have called for investigations into how funds were used after it emerged that some legislators never consulted voters to decide on priorities in their areas. Some MPs are accused of using the money to buy personal goods, while others are said to have used it for campaigning for the next election.

Matinenga, however, stopped short of saying the development money had been stolen. In an earlier interview with The Zimbabwean, the minister had said all the money could be accounted for.