ZEGU was taken to court after some aspiring candidates were
disqualified on the grounds that they were not members of Zaoga church, could
not speak in tongues and were not “spirit-filled”.
The elections were supposed to be held on November 12, but
they were challenged on November 10.
In her ruling, High Court judge Justice Webster Chinamora
yesterday ordered the university to halt the elections after one of the
affected students, Modester Zinhanga, filed an urgent chamber application at
the High Court.
The student is challenging her disqualification from
contesting in the SEC elections on the basis that she is not a member of Zaoga,
and did not show any evidence of speaking in tongues.
She is being represented by advocate Wilbert Mandinde, who
is being instructed by Isheanesu Chirisa and Noble Chinhanu of the Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Forum.
Tichaona Marume of
Marume Furidzo Legal Practitioners appeared for the university.
The university also alleged that Zinhanga had not proved
that she was a born-again Christian, and that she was spirit-filled.
To protect the integrity of the electoral process, Justice
Chinamora ordered the university to suspend the elections until Zinhanga’s case
was finalised.
The matter will be heard on the November 19, 2021. Recently,
the university, run by Zaoga church, amended section 9 of the students handbook
which introduced the new requirements that only church members would contest
for SEC posts.
Zinhanga argued that the university’s decision would derail
her in her quest to prepare and expose herself to the main framework of
national politics and governance, which she said was her career path.
She also argued that the new measures were discriminatory
and violated section 56 of the national Constitution.
The university, through its dean Zacharia Zunguze, in its
notice of opposition, rubbished Zinhanga’s claims, arguing the institution does
not train politicians. Newsday
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