A BULAWAYO High Court judge yesterday barred 12
parliamentary candidates from the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change
(CCC) from standing in next month’s election, handing three Zanu PF candidates,
including Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, free tickets to Parliament.
In a double blow to the Nelson Chamisa-led CCC, Harare High
Court judge Justice Neville Wamambo also dismissed an appeal by the opposition
party challenging 17 “bogus” candidates it accused of forging officials’
signatures to file their nomination papers.
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Bongani Ndlovu disqualified the CCC candidates after 12 registered voters suspected to be Zanu PF members approached the courts seeking their disqualification for allegedly filing their nomination papers after the 4pm deadline on June 21.
Nine other constituencies will, however, still be contested
because they have more than three contesting parties.
In a judgment handed down on his behalf by Justice
Nokuthula Moyo yesterday, Justice Ndlovu ruled that the applicants proved that
the CCC candidates filed their papers after the stipulated deadline.
“It is ordered that the first respondent (Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission) is prohibited from including the names of the following
respondents in the preparation of ballot papers to be used in the general
election scheduled for August 23, 2023.
“The respondents shall jointly and severally pay the cost
of the suit,” Justice Moyo said.
Zanu PF candidates Ncube (Cowdray Park), Industry deputy
minister Raj Modi (Bulawayo South) and Tendai Charuka (Bulawayo Central) could
benefit from the ruling if CCC’s appeal is not successful as they will be left
uncontested. Newsday
Chamisa at a rally today talking about the disqualification of CCC candidates pic.twitter.com/7JapS0SaTn
— Zim Media Review (@ZimMediaReview) July 27, 2023
0 comments:
Post a Comment