High Court judge Justice Never Katiyo has granted an application by Sengezo Tshabangu to disqualify 22 recalled CCC MPs and senators he recalled from participating in the 09 December by-elections.
Tshabangu, who claims to be the party’s interim secretary general, recalled the legislators in October claiming that they had ceased to be CCC members.
The MPs would later lose two appeals filed with the High Court and the Supreme Court.
However, the MPs successfully filed their nomination papers for the by-elections under CCC which triggered the latest challenge by Tshabangu.
Tshabangu’s lawyer Lewis Uriri argued that the MPs should be barred from contesting under the name of a party from which they were recalled.
Justice Katiyo granted Tshabangu’s request, and this means the affected MPs will not contest in Saturday’s by-elections.
Only the CCC Mabvuku-Tafara candidate, Munyaradzi Kufahakutizwi, will contest after Tshabangu said his recall was due to an error.
Tshabangu’s lawyer Nqobani Sithole was quoted by NewZimbabwe.com as saying:
We only dealt with the names which our client provided us. I don’t know he (Kufahakutizwi) was not on the list. We don’t interrogate our client. We only take instructions.
Justice Katiyo’s brief court order reads:
Whereupon after reading documents filed of record and hearing counsel it is ordered that: the decision of the Nomination Court sitting at Harare, Bulawayo, Gwanda, Lupane and/or any other location around the country on 7 November 2023 to accept the nomination papers and candidature of 1st to 22nd respondents for election in the by-elections set to be conducted on 9 December 2023 is unlawful, of no force and effect and hereby set aside.
The 1st to 22nd respondents are not candidates for election in the by-elections scheduled to be conducted on 9 December 2023.
That 23rd and 24th respondents shall not include the names of 1st to 22nd respondents in the preparation of ballot papers to be used in the by-elections scheduled to be conducted on 9 December 2023.
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