News / National
Tsvangirai in U-turn over mayors
06 Sep 2013 at 05:50hrs | Views
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has given in to a directive by Local Government Rural and Urban Development minister Ignatius Chombo to mayors selected from elected councillors.
MDC-T made the dramatic U-turn and nominated elected councillors as mayors for Harare and Chitungwiza in line with the dictates of the new Constitution, exposing the party legal department's ignorance of the Constitution.
Tsvangirai had until yesterday endorsed Obert Gutu for Harare's mayoral post and Isaac Manyemba for Chitungwiza. But yesterday, Tsvangirai summoned his party councillors from Harare and Chitungwiza for a meeting following which he reversed his earlier decision.
The MDC-T also withdrew an application that sought to compel the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development to allow non-councillors to stand as mayoral candidates after realising that they had approached the wrong court.
MDC-T lawyers from Mwonzora and Associates, filed the urgent chamber application at the Electoral Court, but Justice Lavender Makoni agreed with the lawyer for Local Government Joseph Mandizha that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter because it had nothing to do with elections.
Instead, it should have been filed at the High Court. MDC-T lawyers then made a U-turn and quickly withdrew the application.
MDC-T made the dramatic U-turn and nominated elected councillors as mayors for Harare and Chitungwiza in line with the dictates of the new Constitution, exposing the party legal department's ignorance of the Constitution.
Tsvangirai had until yesterday endorsed Obert Gutu for Harare's mayoral post and Isaac Manyemba for Chitungwiza. But yesterday, Tsvangirai summoned his party councillors from Harare and Chitungwiza for a meeting following which he reversed his earlier decision.
The MDC-T also withdrew an application that sought to compel the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development to allow non-councillors to stand as mayoral candidates after realising that they had approached the wrong court.
MDC-T lawyers from Mwonzora and Associates, filed the urgent chamber application at the Electoral Court, but Justice Lavender Makoni agreed with the lawyer for Local Government Joseph Mandizha that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter because it had nothing to do with elections.
Instead, it should have been filed at the High Court. MDC-T lawyers then made a U-turn and quickly withdrew the application.
Source - newsday
