High Court Blocks Tshabangu From Reassigning CCC MPs In Parliament
The High Court on Wednesday blocked Sengezo Tshabangu from making changes to the Citizens Coalition for Change’s (CCC) parliamentary leadership, reported ZimLive.
Justice Neville Wamambo of the Harare High Court made this ruling after CCC acting president Welshman Ncube filed an urgent application.
Ncube argued that Tshabangu did not have the authority to reassign MPs and was carrying out back-door recalls, which he was previously barred from doing by an earlier High Court judgment.
The judge agreed with Ncube and said Tshabangu’s decision to remove Lynette Karenyi Kore, Sessel Zvidzai, and Edwin Mushoriwa from the parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders (CSRO) amounted to recalls.
The judge also noted that the position of opposition chief whip, to which Tshabangu appointed Nonhlanhla Mlotshwa, did not exist under Zimbabwe’s constitution.
Ncube told the High Court that there seemed to be collusion between Tshabangu and Speaker Jacob Mudenda, who readily implemented the changes, ignoring the party’s objections.
Ncube also said that by appointing himself as the overall leader of the opposition in parliament, Tshabangu had placed himself above his seniors in the party hierarchy, compromising the party’s organisational integrity.
Justice Wamambo granted an interim order sought by Ncube, reversing the changes announced by Tshabangu last month. The judge ruled:
Applicants place reliance on the Chitapi J judgment and interpret it to import that first respondent is effectively barred from recalling or purporting to issue any letter of recall.
Further that the reshuffle in this case amounts to a recall ‘literally and at law.
The argument by applicants is that the office bearers held office in the CSRO but no longer hold such office which amounts to a recall. I also find that the position of chief whip is not sanctioned by the constitution and is thus unlawful.
I agree that removing members from the CSRO and replacing them with others amounts to a recall. Effectively, first respondent disobeyed the order rendered in HH 652/23.
In the totality of the circumstances, I find that the application is meritorious and should be granted.
Tshabangu, claiming to be the party’s interim secretary-general, has recalled over a hundred councillors and dozens of MPs and senators since the August 2023 general elections.
In October 2023, the CCC filed a court application (case number HC 6872/23) arguing that Tshabangu had no authority to make these recalls, which led to by-elections. This case is still pending.
The CCC then obtained an order from Justice Tawanda Chitapi, preventing Tshabangu from making any further recalls until it is determined whether he had the legal basis to initiate the recalls in the first place. This order is the basis for Ncube’s current application.
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