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Court 'abandons' case against Ncube
ZimOnline
January 25, 2007

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=296932&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/

Zimbabwe's government "abandoned" its court case against Mail & Guardian chief executive Trevor Ncube on Thursday after it had prevented him at the end of last year from renewing his passport, claiming he was not a citizen of Zimbabwe.

Government lawyers told Justice Chinembiri Bhunu that Johannesburg-based Ncube had successfully provided all the necessary documentation showing that he was a Zimbabwean by birth.

"The initial argument has indeed been abandoned, having considered the correct position in law regarding his citizenship status," said a member of the defence counsel from the Attorney General's office.

"At the time of the abandonment, the applicant provided the necessary proof to show that he is no longer a citizen of Zambia," added the government lawyer.

"This was done at the last minute, hence the delays in concluding this case. The respondents have been persuaded in abandoning the case by the proof that has been availed before them," the lawyer said.

Stanford Moyo, Ncube's lawyer, told the court that he commended the stance taken by the Attorney General's office, saying the Registrar General, Tobaiwa Mudede, appeared to be the only obstacle in the case.

Moyo said Mudede's stance smacked of gross abuse of office. "There can be no doubt that that the applicant [Ncube] was subjected to unnecessary, unlawful and bureaucratic attempt to denationalise him by the respondent," he said.

"It's clearly an abuse of public office. It is commendable the [Attorney General's] office has taken the decision to abandon the registrar general's opposition to this application," he said.

Moyo appealed to Bhunu to award Ncube costs at a higher scale, arguing that the respondents had taken a deliberate move to deny Ncube his citizenship without seeking advice from legal experts, including the Attorney General's office.

"The costs should be of a higher scale to prevent any further abuse of office by holders such as the [registrar general]," he said.

However, government lawyers argued that it had not been an abuse of office. They said delays in concluding the case were partly due to Ncube, whom they accused of dragging his heels in providing proof that he was a Zimbabwean citizen.

"The onus was on the applicant to rebut this. He only did so about three days ago, in fact on January 23 2007. I urge the court not to penalise the respondents for an act that was deliberate," argued one government lawyer.

Moyo wants Mudede and Kembo Mohadi, the second respondent in the case, to meet the full costs of the application.

The court adjourned to Thursday afternoon to allow Bhunu to pass judgement on the issue of costs.

Ncube, the publisher of the Zimbabwe Independent, the Standard and South Africa's Mail & Guardian, was contesting Mudede's attempts to strip him of his Zimbabwean citizenship on the basis that he is of Zambian descent.

The registrar general had argued that Ncube was a Zambian by descent, and his failure to renounce his Zambian citizenship within the prescribed period -- between July 6 and January 6 2002 -- meant he had automatically forfeited his Zimbabwean citizenship. - ZimOnline

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