The judgment has divided opinion within the CCC camp with
some happy and blaming the whole process of choosing representatives on Mr
Chamisa’s one-man band approach to politics while others are sympathising with
the party.
The ruling did not just mean that Zanu-PF has already won
three Parliamentary seats unopposed but the CCC has also lost six senatorial
seats, six women quota and one youth quota seat. The beneficiaries are Zanu-PF
candidates for Cowdray Park, Professor Mthuli Ncube, Cde Tendai Charuka of
Bulawayo Central and Cde Raji Modi of Bulawayo South.
Ironically, the party is now inclining to the three
individuals who filed their nomination papers to represent the party as double
candidates while challenging the High Court ruling.
In the ruling, by Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice
Bongani Ndlovu said the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) violated the
provisions of the Electoral Act by not closing the court until midnight when
they adjourned to the following day.
“Accordingly, ZEC is prohibited from including the names of
the respondents in the preparation of ballot papers to be used in the 23 August
general elections. Respondents shall jointly and severally pay the costs of
suit.
“It is declared that the decision of the first respondent
(ZEC), sitting as a Nomination Court at Bulawayo on 21 and 22 June 2023 to
accept the respondents’ nomination papers and candidature in the elections
scheduled for 23 August 2023 is declared null and void and is hereby set
aside.”
In the aftermath of the ruling, despite the party declaring
that they will appeal the judgement, its supporters in Bulawayo have squarely
laid the blame on Mr Chamisa who they accused of dictatorial tendencies that
were coming back to haunt the party.
Speaking after the High Court ruling, a senior member of
the party, Mr Sengezo Tshabangu said Mr Chamisa must be held accountable for
the challenges that transpired in Bulawayo, which led to its representatives
submitting their nomination papers well after the closure of the nomination
court.
“This all happened because we did not have a constitution,
we did not have any leadership, nor did we have any structures. We cannot
challenge Zanu-PF, an institution with all the structures and we hope to remove
them from power, it’s a myth.
“Chamisa must account for what has happened in Bulawayo, he
should tell us who he sent to come and impose the parliamentarian candidates.
He took people who are not from Bulawayo to come and decide what happens in
Bulawayo, this was all deliberate,” said Mr Tshabangu.
He further accused the party leader of allegedly imposing
the parliamentary candidates, saying this was the first step towards the
building of the chaos in the city.
“There are people who have sold out within the CCC ranks,
Nelson Chamisa is the caretaker president, he was choosing people he wanted and
imposing them on Bulawayo. This makes Bulawayo rise and demand answers on why
this happened in Bulawayo only, why didn’t it happen in Masvingo, why didn’t it
happen in Manicaland,” thundered Mr Tshabangu.
Acknowledging the judgement, outgoing CCC Member of the
National Assembly for Nkulumane constituency and prominent Bulawayo lawyer, Mr
Kucaca Phulu said their only hope was in the constituencies where there were
double candidates.
“This judgment means that all the 12 CCC candidates across
the constituencies in Bulawayo are out of the political race or the electoral
race. These were the people that we were depending upon to really give Zanu-PF
a run for its money.
“So now that they are out, Zanu-PF is likely to run through.
We will see what happens where they are double candidates for CCC,” said Mr
Phulu.
The three who filed their papers as double candidates are
Mr Albert Mhlanga (Pumula constituency), Ms Soneni Moyo (Pelandaba-Tshabalala)
and Mr Dingilizwe Tshuma (Entumbane-Njube).
The supporters have already embarked on a “morning after
strategy which they had initially aimed at activating after the announcement of
the Presidential results.
“According to the ‘morning after strategy’ members in the
Matabeleland region have already started constituting structures with work on
the party constitution already at an advanced stage.
“The morning after strategy is mainly to get rid of Chamisa
using the structures and the party constitution. The High Court loss has played
to the advantage of the morning after advocates as it has exposed Chamisa and
his so-called strategic ambiguity strategy.
“In actual fact, party members in Bulawayo are celebrating
because they feel Chamisa imposed all the candidates who were representing the
party in the parliamentary elections, hence it is seen as if he is paying for
all these impositions,” said the party source. Sunday News
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