War veteran Reuben Zulu has filed an urgent High Court application in Harare to block the final processing of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill (No. 3).
He seeks an interim interdict to stop certification, authentication, transmittal, presidential assent, or any validation of the National Assembly’s vote on CAB3.
Zulu argues the vote was tainted because two MPs, Samantha Murenyanyi/Mureyani (CCC) and Bindura South MP Remigious Matangira (ZANU PF), allegedly received Toyota Fortuner vehicles and US$50,000 each from businessman Wicknell Chivayo after backing CAB3. Murenyanyi allegedly received an extra US$50,000 for constituency projects.
The respondents are as follows: Murenyanyi (1st), Matangira (2nd), Clerk of Parliament (3rd), Speaker of Parliament (4th), and Parliament of Zimbabwe (5th).
“The Constitution cannot be amended by cash and keys,” Zulu said in court papers.
“A constitutional majority must be a constitutional majority. It cannot be composed of votes bought, rewarded, induced, conflicted or cast by Members who were under a duty to recuse themselves.
The application cites media reports claiming businessman Wicknell Chivayo rewarded legislators for supporting the constitutional amendment.
Zulu contends that the reported gifts gave rise to conflicts of interest and rendered the MPs’ participation in the legislative process unlawful.
He submits that, without court intervention, Parliament could certify a constitutional amendment based on “impermissible votes” cast by MPs who allegedly benefited from rewards connected to the Bill.
“Once a contaminated vote is certified and carried forward into the final stages of a constitutional amendment process, the harm will already have occurred,” he states.
Zulu is asking the court to grant a temporary order blocking Parliament’s processing of the Bill until the legality of the disputed votes is decided.
He is further seeking an order declaring the National Assembly vote invalid insofar as it included MPs who allegedly “received, accepted, were promised, or failed to disclose gifts, remuneration, rewards, payments, vehicles, constituency funds or other consideration connected to their support for CAB3.”
He also wants the court to order a fresh vote only after a privileges inquiry or audit into the alleged inducements and after affected MPs have fully disclosed the benefits and been cleared to participate.
“The purpose of interim relief is to prevent that very mischief,” Zulu argues.
“This case is therefore of profound public importance. It concerns whether the law will permit the parliamentary process to be turned into a reward scheme.”
Zulu states that he, alongside other concerned citizens, previously wrote to Parliament to warn that the constitutional amendment process had allegedly been compromised by gifts, rewards and inducements.
The application contends that Parliament disregarded the warning and permitted the legislative process to proceed.
CAB3 has already passed both the National Assembly and the Senate and is now at the final constitutional stages before possible presidential assent.
Zulu argues that allowing the process to continue before the allegations are investigated would permanently taint any constitutional amendment adopted through the disputed vote.
More: ZimLive
Leave a Reply Cancel reply