MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday claimed the High Court challenge filed by two party activists against the appointment of vice-presidents Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri was defective, as the applicants had used a “bogus constitution” to pursue the matter.
Source: MDC-T VPs case: ‘Applicants used bogus constitution’ – NewsDay Zimbabwe February 17, 2017
BY CHARLES LAITON
Tsvangirai was responding to a High Court application filed by MDC-T members, Patson Murimoga and George Rice, in July last year, seeking nullification of Chamisa and Mudzuri’s appointments as party vice-presidents.
In their application, the litigants cited Tsvangirai, Chamisa, Mudzuri and MDC-T national chairperson, Lovemore Moyo as respondents.
Tsvangirai’s lawyer, Thabani Mpofu, pleaded with Justice Lavendar Makoni, who is presiding over the matter, to dismiss the application on the grounds that the activists had cited a wrong copy of the party constitution and that they had rushed to take the matter to the court before exhausting internal processes.
He added that the activists also erroneously made reference to the party’s sixth congress, which had not yet taken place.
Mpofu claimed Murimoga and Rice updated their subscriptions to the party two days after filing the application, in a bid to authenticate their application and as such they did not have the locus standi to pursue the matter.
But, the duo’s lawyer, Zivanai Macharaga, said his clients had a constitutional right to approach the court and challenge Tsvangirai’s decisions.
“By virtue of being members, they have the right to file this application. There is nowhere where it is shown that their membership has been withdrawn,” Macharaga said, adding his clients could not have approached the party’s national council because, in their view, it was the offender and could not have resolved the dispute impartially.
Justice Makoni reserved judgment on the preliminary points raised by Mpofu.
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