By A Correspondent| A High Court judge, Justice Faith Mushure, has dismissed an urgent application by the Jameson Timba-led Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) faction seeking to prevent a rival faction from receiving funds from the Political Parties’ Fund.

The faction aligned with interim secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu is set to receive ZW$22,116,500, as part of the ZW$70 million allocated to political parties that participated in the August 2023 harmonised elections, according to a notice in the Government Gazette. Timba’s CCC faction had named several respondents in their application, including Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, Tshabangu, and another CCC faction led by Welshman Ncube.

Justice Mushure ruled that the matter was not urgent, noting that the applicants had delayed in filing the application. She pointed out that the Timba faction had been aware since early 2023 that the Tshabangu faction would receive the funds but failed to act in a timely manner.

“There was undue delay and laxity on the part of the applicants in bringing this application to court,” Justice Mushure said in her judgment. She added that the Timba faction had known about the allocation since at least October 16, 2023, but took no steps to prevent the alleged harm.

The judge also criticized the applicants for failing to act with the urgency required for such a case. “An applicant is expected to have acted with the same urgency it wishes the matter to be given,” she said, emphasizing that they should have responded immediately instead of waiting.

The Timba-led CCC faction argued that without an urgent ruling, they would suffer irreparable harm, as there would be no way to recover the funds allocated to the Tshabangu faction. However, Justice Mushure dismissed these claims, stating that the applicants had not provided strong evidence to support their fears.

“They simply make bare allegations,” she said, adding that the Timba faction’s right to recover the money would still exist even if the case was not heard urgently. The judge concluded that the alleged irreparable harm was not sufficiently substantiated, and the application failed on this basis as well.