If the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe nullified the MDC Alliance Election Results of 2019 in 2020, on what legal ground can people claim to be CCC Vice-Presidents.
Dear Editor,
Following the resignation of Advocate Nelson Chamisa as CCC President towards the end of January 2024, two CCC leadership camps have emerged – one which will be co-chaired by Professor Welshman Ncube, Advocate Tendai Biti and Lynette Kerenyi-Kore, according to information given at a press conference by Advocate Jacob Mafume, which is collaborated by Professor Welshman Ncube in subsequent media interviews he had after the Mafume Press Conference. The other faction is led by Mr. Jameson Timba, which justifies its authenticity through the argument that the CCC is managed through the Citizen National Assembly.
My recollection of the Supreme Court Judgement of 2020 which gave control of the MDC to Dr. Khupe is that it confirmed the May 2019 decision of the High Court that Dr. Tsvangirai’s appointment in July 2016 of Advocate Chamisa and Engineer Mudzuri as additional Deputy President was in breach of the MDC Constitution and therefore null and void; that the appointment of Advocate Chamisa as Acting President of the MDC by the party’s National Council after Mr. Tsvangirai’s death in February 2018 and his subsequent election as President of MDC were likewise null and void. That would also mean that every other position elected at the 2019 Congress and all the structures endorsed by that Congress are null and void.
If the positions elected at Gweru were null and void, the persons elected into those positions can therefore not claim to be in the same positions in the CCC. That does not mean that Professor Ncube, Advocate Biti, Karenyi-Kore and Mafume faction are not entitled to claim leadership as they are part of the CCC, just as the Timba lead faction, but to claim leadership basing the argument on positions that were nullified by a court of law does not sound right, so these colleagues have started on the wrong footing, and the sooner they realise that and find an alternative justification for their claim to leadership may be the best thing for them to do.
The truth of the matter is that there are factions that have been created following the resignation of Advocate Chamisa. In my view, the CCC was a new party, which should not have carried over the structures that were declared null and void by a court of law. While it took two years for the nullified Gweru Congress leadership to admit the court ruling and form something new, they finally did. I recollect that when members of the public complained that Professor Ncube was not speaking against Tshabangu’s recall of legislators, Professor Ncube asked in what capacity he was expected to comment as he did not have a position in the party, so for Professor Ncube to now claim a leadership position makes the general public question his integrity.
If it is true that the Citizens National Assembly was the way decisions were made in the CCC, Timba’s team has a good argument.
Unfortunatelly for Tshabangu, he was neither the Secretary-General after the 2019 Congress, nor was he part of the Citizens National Assemly after the formation of the CCC.
I encourage the factions to reflect deeply on the issues I have raised and find a way forward. If they cannot agree on things, then they should agree to part ways amicably as happened in 2005, when people chose to belong where they felt more aligned to without the fear of being recalled from parliament. I remember the likes of Blessing Chebundo initially going with the Gibson Sibanda lead faction, only to change positions and went with the faction lead by the late Dr. Tsvangirai later, taking along his parliamentary seat with him in the process.
Kennedy Kaitano