As ZANU PF UZ-grantee Fadzayi Mahere and the discredited Sengezo Tshabangu become the first opposition characters to win disputed court cases, Prof Welshman Ncube’s CCC makeshift has admitted that the Mnangagwa campaigner’s win is now irreversible. The institution has released the following statement stating:
Sengezo Tshabangu v Citizens Coalition for Change
We, together with our lawyers, have now had the opportunity to study Justice Dube’s judgment in favourof Sengezo Tshabangu which judgement is unappealableto the Supreme Court because it is a default judgment. The judgment was arrived at by holding that our opposition to Tshabangu’s application was improperly before the court because of two errors which we made in our papers. The first of which was a typographical error which wrongly referred to CCC as the 1st Applicant instead of the 5th Respondent in the one paragraph in which we were saying the President is authorized to represent the party and the second of which was the failure to attach the correct resolution of the National Executive authorizing the President to represent the party in legal proceedings. As a result of these two errors, the Judge President found that the opposing papers were improperly before the court and were invalid and as such, the Tshabangu application was unopposed.
While we disagree with the conclusion that there was no proof before the court that the President was authorized to represent the party in the litigation, given that the correct resolution was before the court by incorporation of the other cases in which it was filed we fully respect the judgement and hence have instructed our lawyers to apply for its recession and for condonation and extentionof time within which to file valid opposing papers.
In this regard, the leadership assures party members that the party are will oppose Tshabangu’s machinations to hijack the party and make it a personal toy to the bitter end in and outside courts. We are fully convinced that even if the Tshabangu application for declaring the party leadership as being unlawfully in office has not been opposed, the court should not have granted it because the High Court is bound by the law enunciated by the Supreme Court particularly in the case of CossamChiangwa and Others v Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe and others SC 67/21 Where the Supreme Court reaffirmed the common law position that:
“Again, the common law principles governing the expiration of fixed tenure of office bearers was settled in the cases of Padayiche v Payadai and Another 1994 (1) SA 662(w) at 677G and Exparte United party club 1930WLD 277 at 281. It is that the tenure of office of elected office bearers is not terminated by the effluxion of time but by subsequent election that are held for new office bearers.”
We believe that the law of the country is clear. The term of office of the current leadership will expire at congress which is to be held within the next few months, when a new leadership of the party will be elected. This is the law of the country by which the High Court is bound.
In these circumstances, we are duty bound to seek rescission of the High Court judgement because it is substantively contrary to the settled law of the country.
We advise our members that the judgement has nothing to do with Justice Chitapi judgement which remains extant and bars Tshabangu from recalling any CCC Members of Parliament and Councillors.
Tshabangu will still have to face his day in Court and take a witness stand to answer questions as to how and when he became the SG of the CCC.
Accordingly, our Members of Parliament should remain focused on amplifying our voices in Parliament in the fight against corruption and poverty without being distracted by the machinations of charlatans.
The party among the people should focus on mobilizing people in the communities in preparation for congress to be held within the next few months.
For and on behalf of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC)