News / National
Khupe ropes in Madhuku to target MDC finances, assets
15 May 2019 at 08:23hrs | Views
Harare lawyer Lovemore Madhuku says he has been engaged by Thokozani Khupe's MDC-T party "to implement" a court ruling which said Nelson Chamisa was not the legitimate leader of the MDC.
Chamisa, 41, rose to become the Movement for Democratic Change interim leader last year following the death of founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai amid opposition from internal rivals, which split the party into two factions.
Standing on an MDC Alliance ticket, while Khupe was on the ballot for MDC-T, Chamisa lost a presidential election to the ruling Zanu-PF's Emmerson Mnangagwa last July, but says that poll was rigged.
High Court judge Edith Mushore ruled that the process that took Chamisa to the helm of the MDC was unconstitutional and therefore null and void. In particular, she found that Tsvangirai's appointment of an additional two vice presidents in the form of Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri was unconstitutional, and that upon his death Khupe should have been acting president leading up to an extra-ordinary congress within 12 months.
The ruling followed a legal challenge from a party member to Chamisa's leadership.
On Tuesday, Madhuku said he had been engaged by Khupe to put the judgment into effect, which to Khupe means control of the party's finances, properties as well as formal recognition as leader of the party.
Chamisa's MDC is appealing the ruling, which the party sees as part of a wider plot by Mnangagwa's ruling party to destabilise the main opposition.
"After being engaged by Khupe, who has been declared the legitimate MDC president by the court, I have started studying the judgment on how best to implement it," said Professor Madhuku.
"Chamisa and his team of lawyers, led by Advocate Thabani Mpofu, can claim it will be a stroll in the park to contest the High Court ruling, but the reality is that Chamisa has been rendered a political novice who can form his own party.
"Chamisa is somebody but nobody to claim the MDC presidency, the ruling is clear and his lawyers know better that he has been rendered a somebody who can form his own party where he can declare himself president."
Chamisa has already been nominated for the presidency of the MDC by all the party's provincial assemblies and will be endorsed during a congress from May 24-26 in Gweru town, Midlands province.
In February this year, Chamisa and his MDC snubbed talks with Mnangagwa meant to try to resolve a political and economic crisis, saying any dialogue with the president must be brokered by an independent outside mediator.
Chamisa, 41, rose to become the Movement for Democratic Change interim leader last year following the death of founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai amid opposition from internal rivals, which split the party into two factions.
Standing on an MDC Alliance ticket, while Khupe was on the ballot for MDC-T, Chamisa lost a presidential election to the ruling Zanu-PF's Emmerson Mnangagwa last July, but says that poll was rigged.
High Court judge Edith Mushore ruled that the process that took Chamisa to the helm of the MDC was unconstitutional and therefore null and void. In particular, she found that Tsvangirai's appointment of an additional two vice presidents in the form of Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri was unconstitutional, and that upon his death Khupe should have been acting president leading up to an extra-ordinary congress within 12 months.
The ruling followed a legal challenge from a party member to Chamisa's leadership.
On Tuesday, Madhuku said he had been engaged by Khupe to put the judgment into effect, which to Khupe means control of the party's finances, properties as well as formal recognition as leader of the party.
"After being engaged by Khupe, who has been declared the legitimate MDC president by the court, I have started studying the judgment on how best to implement it," said Professor Madhuku.
"Chamisa and his team of lawyers, led by Advocate Thabani Mpofu, can claim it will be a stroll in the park to contest the High Court ruling, but the reality is that Chamisa has been rendered a political novice who can form his own party.
"Chamisa is somebody but nobody to claim the MDC presidency, the ruling is clear and his lawyers know better that he has been rendered a somebody who can form his own party where he can declare himself president."
Chamisa has already been nominated for the presidency of the MDC by all the party's provincial assemblies and will be endorsed during a congress from May 24-26 in Gweru town, Midlands province.
In February this year, Chamisa and his MDC snubbed talks with Mnangagwa meant to try to resolve a political and economic crisis, saying any dialogue with the president must be brokered by an independent outside mediator.
Source - ZimLive
