President Robert Mugabe is trouble for breaching the constitution by his firing Joice Mujuru and appointing two Vice presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko.
Mugabe has been slapped with a lawsuit filed by Constitutional Law expert Lovemore Madhuku who is challenging the appointments of the installing of Mnangagwa and Mphoko. According to the law there should only be one Vice President under the current circumstances.
Madhuku told ZimEye.com Thursday evening, he is confident despite the late hour. “Its not late because he only announced them yesterday, we only knew that there are two Vice Presidents yesterday and there is no way you can have a hearing between now and tomorrow,” he said,
He continued, “the importance of the lawsuit is that even if he goes ahead with the installation of the Vice Presidents,…if the court rules that it was unlawful to make the appointments of two people instead of one, then they will nullify them. He will have to make a choice of which one he picks for the Vice Presidency,” he said.
“We will file tomorrow morning,” he added.
In the application Madhuku is suing Robert Mugabe as the first respondent, former justice minister Mnangagwa (second respondent), Mphoko (third respondent).
Madhuku argues that “The basis of the application is that the 1st Respondent is likely to infringe two fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013 namely (a) the right to equality before the law and equal protection and benefit of the law protected by section 56(1) and (b) the right to administrative justice protected by section 68.”
“Yesterday, the nation had three major political developments. The first was the dismissal of the former Vice-President, Honourable Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru. She was dismissed by the 1st Respondent. The second was the appointment of the 2nd and 3rd Respondents as Vice-Presidents of Zanu(PF). The third was an announcement that the 1st Respondent intends to swear the 2nd and 3rd Respondents into office as Vice-Presidents of the country. The latter ceremony appears scheduled for tomorrow (12 December 2014),” reads his opposing affidavit.
He clarified, “the option of the President to appoint one or two Vice Presidents is only exercised soon after the President is sworn into office. Once the President has decided to appoint one vice President, he cannot change his mind and have two Vice Presidents during the same term of office. The President cannot replace Vice President Mujuru by two Vice Presidents. This is what paragraph 14, sub-paragraph 2 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution says. In specific terms, it says:
“Without delay the person elected as President in any election referred to in subparagraph(1) must appoint not more than two Vice-Presidents, who hold office at his or her pleasure”.