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Welshman Ncube's lawyers win Nomination Court appeals

by Court Reporter
09 Jul 2013 at 05:46hrs | Views
THE Electoral Court sitting at the High Court in Bulawayo yesterday heard 24 appeals by aspiring candidates whose nomination papers were rejected by the Nomination Court on 28 June.

The appellants who all cited the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson, Justice Rita Makarau and ZEC as respondents, sought to have their nomination papers reconsidered and accepted as candidates for their respective wards.

Justice Lawrence Kamocha, Justice Maphios Cheda and Justice Martin Makonese heard the appeals from the aspiring candidates separately in  chambers.

The applicants for MDC were represented by Mr Matshobana Ncube of Phulu and Ncube Legal Practitioners and Mr Sindiso Shepherd Mazibisa of Cheda and Partners.

There were five appellants for Matobo South Constituency who were aspiring candidates for council elections.

The five had been disqualified by the Nomination Court because they did not have codes of conduct and prayed for an order for their papers to be accepted.

Justice Makonese granted the order compelling ZEC to add their names in the list of candidates.

Nkayi South had one candidate whose papers had been thrown out because he was said to be unregistered as a voter and he will now stand for council after his lawyers produced proof that he was registered.

Matobo North Constituency had five council candidates whose appeals were also granted.

Their papers had been rejected because of irregularities in the codes of conduct.

There were two appeals from aspiring councillors from Umzingwane and Matobo constituencies, which were dismissed by Justice Makonese because the applicants did not meet the required number of people nominating them.

Another candidate from Umzingwane who had been disqualified because he had a short birth certificate won the appeal.

ZEC requires that a candidate should have five nominators in terms of the Electoral Act and Messrs Ncube and Mazibisa argued that the electoral body did not give their clients enough time to meet the requirements.

Justice Makonese said reasons for dismissal of the appeals would be given if requested.

From Zvishavane Town Council and Runde Rural District Council eight aspiring councillors under MDC whose papers were rejected because of codes of conduct also had their appeals granted.

There were seven aspiring councillors from Shurugwi Town Council whose applications were dismissed after appealing against rejection on the grounds that they did not have enough nominators during the Nomination Court while three from Beitbridge Town whose papers had been thrown away because they came late were granted. They were all members of MDC.

There were two aspiring MDC Members of the National Assembly for Hurungwe East and Zvimba West who also won appeals while another case of an aspiring MP was deferred to today.

The three transferred to new constituencies and ZEC had failed to provide an updated voters' roll.

Redcliff Constituency had three aspiring councillors, one for Vungu and 13 for Silobela whose appeal against rejection of their papers was dismissed by Justice Cheda.

Their papers had been rejected at the Nomination Court because they had not provided enough information about their nominators.

ZEC argued that they filed their papers late.

Reasons for the dismissal would be given in due course.

There was one appeal by an aspiring council candidate for Zanu-PF and four for MDC-T which were granted by Justice Kamocha.

The appellants were represented by Messrs Kossam Ncube and Lison Ncube.

In all the cases ZEC was represented by Nyika, Kanengoni and Partners.

In Harare the court started sitting at the High Court on Friday with 23 cases .

The appeals, which are mainly from MDC-T and MDC-Ncube, include cases of suspended councillors who failed to file their nomination papers due to pending cases as well as matters of aspiring candidates whose applications failed after their names could not be found on the voters' roll.

Other appellants were disqualified for being underage, among other reasons.

MDC-T dominated the court roll in Harare with several cases in which the party was fighting its former members who successfully filed nomination papers using a logo that they feel closely resemble the party's logo.

By yesterday afternoon, 16 cases had been completed. In Harare nine appeals were thrown out.

Source - chronicle