ZANU PF’s legal team has not yet calculated the total bill of costs in the Constitutional Court case they won against MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa in August last year.
Team leader Canaan Dube of Dube, Manikai and Hwacha said the process needed to be treated delicately:
No, we have not yet finalised the bill of legal costs as we are still in talks. The process does not need to be rushed because it requires that we treat it with the sensitivity it needs.
Soon after the Constitutional Court delivered its ruling, Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs Paul Mangwana suggested that the total bill could reach $3 million. Said Mangwana:
Lawyers charge according to the number of hours they spend on a case. You will appreciate that a humongous amount of hours were spent on this case because of its high profile nature and also because of the need to ensure that everything was on point.
The amount has to be in line with the prescribed rates which lawyers charge. Such rates are approved by the Registrar of Courts who also has to grant the approval. The amount will also undergo the necessary taxation processes.
What the ruling means is that Zanu PF doesn’t have to pay, it is Chamisa who has to pay our lawyers. The law says if he doesn’t pay we will have to attach his personal property. This law is made to guard against people who approach the courts with cases that are not of any substance.
Chamisa akasabhadhara mutorerei property yake