Tshabangu Linked To Court Challenge That Could Extend Mnangagwa’s Term

Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) disputed secretary general Sengezo Tshabangu is alleged to have approached Ibhetshu Likazulu secretary general Mbuso Fuzwayo to front a Constitutional Court challenge that could ultimately allow ZANU PF to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s second term from 2028 to 2030.

Investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono claimed that the ostensible aim of the court challenge was to argue that a 2030 extension would be illegal.

But the real plan, he said, was for the court to dismiss the application. Once dismissed, the ruling would set a legal precedent effectively clearing the way for Mnangagwa’s term to be extended.

In other words, the application was designed to achieve the opposite of what it claimed, creating a judicial record in support of a political agenda.

Chin’ono later said he spoke to Fuzwayo, who confirmed that Tshabangu’s lawyer, Nqobani Sithole, had approached him to lead the constitutional application.

Fuzwayo said he was initially unaware of the deeper political motives and was told the application was still being finalised before he would be asked to sign on behalf of himself and Ibhetshu Likazulu.

However, Fuzwayo has since distanced himself from the initiative, refusing to sign the application after realising that it was intended to be dismissed by the courts to create a legal precedent legitimising Mnangagwa’s extension to 2030. Added Chin’ono:

“This tactic of using courts to elicit a ruling to advance a political agenda is not new. Mnangagwa’s side has used it many times before.

“They did, for instance, send a law student from the University of Zimbabwe to file a court challenge against the appointment process of a Chief Justice.

“Romeo Taombera Zibani from the University of Zimbabwe suddenly filed a court application seeking to stop the JSC interviews for the Chief Justice, arguing that the process was unconstitutional and that the President should appoint the Chief Justice directly.

“The High Court, in a move that shocked the legal fraternity, ruled in Zibani’s favour, effectively supporting the argument to give the President unilateral power to appoint the Chief Justice in order to advance a political agenda to have Justice George Mutandwa Chiweshe appointed.

“It is a classic manipulation of the legal system, using courts not to seek justice, but to manufacture legitimacy.”

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