The 12 Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) parliamentary candidates in Bulawayo who were disqualified from running in the August 23 election have said they never stopped campaigning before the Supreme Court overturned their disqualification.
The candidates were disqualified by the Bulawayo High Court
on July 27, 2023, which ruled that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had
illegally accepted their nomination papers since they had filed them after the
deadline of 4 pm on June 21, 2023.
However, the Supreme Court overturned the High Court ruling
on July 27, 2023, finding that ZEC had acted lawfully in accepting the
candidates’ nomination papers.
In interviews with CITE, the CCC candidates said they were
determined to continue campaigning and win the election.
“We never stopped campaigning,” said Obert Manduna, who is
running for the Nketa Constituency seat. “We remained resolute and focused
despite these sideshows. We are now taking this political dogfight to the
ballot box now.”
Collins Bajila, a candidate for the Luveve-Emakhandeni
constituency, said the Supreme Court decision gave them the confidence to
continue with their campaign.
“We have no doubt that we are moving forward to win,” he
said. “We never stopped campaigning.”
Pashor Raphael Sibanda, who is running for Cowdray Park
Constituency against Finance Minister and Zanu PF’s Professor Mthuli Ncube,
said the Supreme Court ruling was expected.
“We knew we
submitted our papers on time and that’s why we never stopped campaigning,” he
said. “We have always said this court case was a sideshow meant to disturb us
and meant to rob the people of Bulawayo of their right to choose their
leaders.”
The CCC candidates also accused the courts of being
captured by Zanu PF.
“We have a lot of cases as examples,” said Sibanda. “You
don’t need to be a lawyer to see such. This case on its own wasn’t even
supposed to reach the Supreme Court level, it was not even supposed to reach
the High Court. Where in the world have you seen someone who complains about
electoral issues 30 days after electoral processes have been done…”
In response to the Supreme Court verdict, the government’s
spokesperson – Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity,
and Broadcasting Services – Nick Mangwana, claimed Zimbabwe had a “very
professional and impartial judiciary.”
“We unfortunately also have those who believe they should
never lose a case, even if the case is a dud,” he said. “When they lose they
scream ‘captured.’ Same for elections. We have those who always scream,
‘rigged’ when they lose. You can’t blame the referee every time you don’t win.”
CITE
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