By A Correspondent- Former Zanu-PF finance secretary, Ignatius Chombo has ignored a High Court application filed by a Zanu-PF youth, Sybeth Musengezi seeking the nullification of Zanu-PF’s 19th November 2017 special session Central Committee meeting.
At the meeting, President Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected president, but in his court challenge, Musengezi was the process was null and void.
Chombo, Zanu-PF as a party, Mnangagwa, Zanu-PF administration secretary Obert Mpofu, acting political commissar Patrick Chinamasa, and former Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, are cited as respondents in the court challenge.
Chombo was expected to file his opposing papers before Friday while another respondent in the high profile, Mphoko is left with six days to file his opposing affidavit.
Mpofu and Chinamasa filed their affidavits last Friday.
However, Musengezi’s lawyer, Nqobani Sithole Sunday confirmed with NewZimbabwe.com Chombo had failed to beat the deadline while Mphoko still had a few more days to file his opposing papers.
What it, therefore, means is that those respondents who have failed to file opposing papers are in agreement with our application while those who have defended are not agreeable to the application,” Sithole said.
Following the November 17 2017 military coup which ousted longtime ruler Robert Mugabe from office, Chombo was arrested while Mphoko briefly sought political asylum in Botswana before he come back.
Mphoko was later arrested on charges of criminal abuse of office after he allegedly instructed some junior police officers to release arrested former Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) acting chief executive, Moses Juma.
The matter is pending before the courts.
Last month, Chombo was acquitted by a Harare magistrate for several charges he was facing for abuse of public office while he was the Local Government Minister.
Musengezi is arguing the November 2017 Zanu-PF central committee meeting, which appointed Mnangagwa as the party’s president and the first secretary was in violation of the party’s Constitution and, therefore, unlawful and null and void.