News / Local
Sengezo Tshabangu still in charge
01 Dec 2023 at 10:09hrs | Views
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) MPs who were recalled by the party Interim Secretary General Sengezo Tshabangu have suffered a set back after the Supreme Court dismissed their appeal.
The appeal is fatally defective, the notice of appeal failed to comply with rule 37(2) of the Supreme Court rules.
The MPs had filed an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the High Court ruling that upheld their recall.
Justice Joseph Musakwa, leading the bench, declared that the appeal was improperly filed, lacking the involvement of crucial parties, and subsequently struck it off the roll.
Musakwa stated, "It is evident that the notices of appeal are fatally defective. Consequently, there is no appeal before this court."
The MPs and senators had separately lodged appeals, despite the High Court delivering a unified judgment.
The MPs failed to include senators in their application, and vice versa, leading to a critical technical error, as argued by Advocate Lewis Uriri, a point the court upheld.
During the proceedings, Thabani Mpofu, representing the MPs, contended that there was no court rule violated by not including senators. Amanda Ndlovu, representing the senators, noted that there remained an opportunity for the appellants to rectify the oversight and resubmit their appeal in compliance with the court's rules.
She suggested, "The appellants still have an opportunity to refile their appeal in a manner which complies with the rules of this court."
The 14 legislators submitted that the High Court judge erred in law by making a finding that the letters of recall by Tshabangu were valid.
They further submitted that the High Court made a mistake in finding that Tshabangu had authority to recall them.
The legislators seeked the Supreme Court to grant their application by setting aside High Court judgement by Justice Munamato Mutevedzi.
They also seek the court to declare that Tshabangu had no authority to write letters on behalf of the CCC.
The recalled legislators want the Supreme Court to grant an order that they be deemed to be still Members of Parliament duly elected on a CCC ticket.
However the nomination court proceeded on Tuesday in Bulawayo and Harare.
The appeal is fatally defective, the notice of appeal failed to comply with rule 37(2) of the Supreme Court rules.
The MPs had filed an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the High Court ruling that upheld their recall.
Supreme Court dismisses 24 CCC recalled legislators appeal pic.twitter.com/GsJjBdjeSf
— Bulawayo24 News (@Bulawayo24News) December 1, 2023
Justice Joseph Musakwa, leading the bench, declared that the appeal was improperly filed, lacking the involvement of crucial parties, and subsequently struck it off the roll.
Musakwa stated, "It is evident that the notices of appeal are fatally defective. Consequently, there is no appeal before this court."
The MPs and senators had separately lodged appeals, despite the High Court delivering a unified judgment.
The MPs failed to include senators in their application, and vice versa, leading to a critical technical error, as argued by Advocate Lewis Uriri, a point the court upheld.
During the proceedings, Thabani Mpofu, representing the MPs, contended that there was no court rule violated by not including senators. Amanda Ndlovu, representing the senators, noted that there remained an opportunity for the appellants to rectify the oversight and resubmit their appeal in compliance with the court's rules.
She suggested, "The appellants still have an opportunity to refile their appeal in a manner which complies with the rules of this court."
They further submitted that the High Court made a mistake in finding that Tshabangu had authority to recall them.
The legislators seeked the Supreme Court to grant their application by setting aside High Court judgement by Justice Munamato Mutevedzi.
They also seek the court to declare that Tshabangu had no authority to write letters on behalf of the CCC.
The recalled legislators want the Supreme Court to grant an order that they be deemed to be still Members of Parliament duly elected on a CCC ticket.
However the nomination court proceeded on Tuesday in Bulawayo and Harare.
Source - Byo24News
