“We don’t celebrate” Fadzai Mahere
Fabian Mudhegu
The Citizens Coalition for Change spokesperson Advocate Fadzai Mahere has told reporters that her party will not celebrate the Supreme Court ruling that reinstated 12 CCC aspiring Members of Parliament unto the ballot paper.
The sentiments come after the Supreme Court overturned a High Court ruling that had barred 12 Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) candidates from contesting in the Bulawayo elections.
The ruling had handed 3 ZANU-PF candidates free passage into parliament without a vote cast.
One of the ZANU-PF candidates who had celebrated the short lived “victory” is Minister of Finance Pro. Dr. Mthuli Ncube who is vying foe the newly delineated Cowdray Park Constituency.
Addressing journalists outside the Supreme Court, Adv. Mahere said,
“They have ruled that the judgment of the High Court should be set aside, this effectively means that the 12 MPs from Bulawayo have been reinstated on to the ballot.
As the CCC we don’t say we are happy, we don’t celebrate because they should never have been removed in the first place, but what we do say is that we are relieved because the people of Bulawayo will have to choose leaders of their own.”
Effectively the three ZANU-PF candidates who had prematurely celebrated their ‘win’ including Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, who was co-beneficiary to the ban order, has to go through the dreaded balloting process before they can be declared winner of their respective constituencies.
The bench chaired by Justice Tendai Uchena set aside the High Court ruling stating that full reasons will be made later.
The 12 had been barred from contesting by the Bulawayo High Court after a judge had concurred with an application which stated that the 12 had filed their nomination papers after the 4PM deadline on June 21, of which they denied.
Legal arguments centered on preliminary issues raised by lawyers for the 12 at the High Court, which they argued were casually dismissed by Justice Bongani Ndlovu.
Advocate Thabani Mpofu and Professor Welshman Ncube, representing the applicants argued that the High Court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter, as it was an electoral issue that should have been handled by the Electoral Court.
They also said that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had confirmed that the candidates or their agents were in court by 4PM and ready to file their papers, as required by law.
Further submissions said that the High Court had relied on a document from ZEC that showed the times when the data was entered into a computer, not when the papers were filed.
They further argued that the High Court had contradicted itself by allowing one candidate from ZANC party to contest, even though his time on the document was 12.55AM on June 22.
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