MDC-T is claiming ownership of the MDC Alliance party name.
In a statement, Mwonzora spokesperson Lloyd Damba said
Chamisa could not rebuke former Chief Justice Luke Malaba for contempt of court
as he had continued to serve as the MDC Alliance party president, disregarding
a High Court ruling that nullified his leadership in 2019.
In March 2019, High Court judge Justice Edith Mushore
nullified Chamisa’s MDC-T presidency and ordered the party to organise an
extra-ordinary congress to choose a new leader within a month.
But the youthful leader pressed ahead with his party’s
planned political activities since then pending his appeal against the
judgment, which he again lost at the Supreme Court.
“Chamisa is in contempt of court, not once but several
times. He is still using the name MDC Alliance even when he knows that the name
belongs to senator Mwonzora,” Damba said.
“He is still calling himself MDC Alliance president in
clear violation and contempt of the same courts. The very same judge Justice
Mushore, who ruled that Chief Justice Malaba must relinquish office because his
term had expired nullified Nelson Chamisa’s presidency. But he now wades into
the Malaba case and celebrates the judgment. He did so when he himself failed
to follow a similar High Court ruling.”
“We are in the process of reclaiming everything, but we
will do it strategically and strategies are not for public consumption.”
MDC Alliance deputy party spokesperson Clifford Hlatywayo
dismissed Damba’s threats describing them as “desperate” measures by the MDC-T
to score own political goals through dragging the courts into their rivalry.
“The Judiciary must not be dragged into mud by failed
politicians. MDC Alliance is given its
mandate by the people. Political prowess
should be proven by votes and not the courts.
“Political parties are formed as voluntary association. How
can someone boast of a party without supporters? President Nelson Chamisa will
not be disrupted to defend the people-driven Constitution by political puppets
that have been using State institutions to gain significance in the political
arena,” Hlatywayo said.
Legal expert advocate Tawanda Mapuranga said Mwonzora and
his allies were failing to correctly interpret the High Court ruling which
nullified Chamisa’s presidency in the MDC-T party.
“Chamisa had no case to answer on contempt of court charges
as he had ceased to be the MDC-T leader.
Legislators under the MDC Alliance party were recalled from Parliament
on the basis that they had ceased to be members of the MDC-T party, which
justifies the ruling that Chamisa was not leader of the MDC-T in accordance
with the High Court ruling. A contention that he is a leader of the MDC
Alliance is now a clear political issue which cannot be settled using the
courts. There has to be a clear distinction between legal and political issues,”
he said. Newsday
0 comments:
Post a Comment