|
Back to Index
MDC-T
in U-turn over mayors
Moses Matenga/Everson
Mushava, NewsDay
September 06, 2013
https://www.newsday.co.zw/2013/09/06/mdc-t-u-turn-mayors/
MDC-T leader
Morgan Tsvangirai has given in to a directive by Local Government
Rural and Urban Development minister Ignatius Chombo to have mayors
selected from elected councillors.
Tsvangirai had
until yesterday endorsed Obert Gutu for Harare’s mayoral post
and Isaac Manyemba for Chitungwiza.
But yesterday,
Tsvangirai summoned his party councillors from Harare and Chitungwiza
for a meeting following which he reversed his earlier decision.
This comes as
the Electoral Court yesterday threw out the application by the MDC-T
over the issue.
The matter,
which was set before Justice Andrew Makoni, was thrown out on the
basis that the party had approached the wrong court.
“The Electoral
Court said it has no jurisdiction to hear the case,” MDC-T
lawyer, Tendai Amon Toto said.
After the meeting
with councillors, Tsvangirai reportedly made an announcement at
his party headquarters, Harvest House, that the party had finally
settled for Ward 8 councillor Chris Mbanga and his Ward 17 counterpart
Bernard Manyenyeni as the two that would compete for the mayorship
of Harare. It could, however, not immediately be established who
had been nominated for Chitungwiza.
Newly-appointed
chief-whip for Harare Councillor Peter Moyo confirmed the development,
saying the decision was reached as the party was awaiting the court
ruling on the matter.
“It’s
a suggestion that was brought up and we all agreed to it,”
said Moyo.
Impeccable sources
who attended the meeting addressed by Tsvangirai said the outgoing
Premier brought up the idea and no one disputed it.
The party organising
secretary Nelson Chamisa and secretary for local government Blessing
Chebundo also attended the meeting.
“The president
called for the caucus and said we should have an alternative plan,”
said the source.
Party spokesperson
Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the “plan B” adding that
the party arrived at the decision after putting into consideration
the “uncertainty of the court’s view on the matter”.
“I can
confirm that in view of the uncertainty of how courts may look at
this matter, we have decided to look at plan B should our persistence
with the courts fail. I am not yet at liberty to disclose who may
be the chosen one,” said Mwonzora.
In dismissing
the application, Justice Makoni said the MDC-T had approached the
wrong court. However, Mwonzora said they had gone to the Electoral
Court because they felt the mayoral elections were a continuation
of the July 31 polls.
“The matter
is no longer in the hands of the Electoral Court. We have an option
to approach the High Court to hear the same urgent application and
make a determination to grant and reject the relief sought,”
Toto said.
He said MDC-T
could also approach the Constitutional Court for interpretation
of the contentious sections 265(2) and 274(2) as read with section
275 of the constitution
in relation to the provisions of the Urban
Councils Act and the Local Government Laws Amendment Act.
On the issue
of three council run-off elections due for Sunday, MDC-T secretary-general
Tendai Biti yesterday expressed doubts over their credibility.
The reason he
said was that the Registrar-General’s (RG) Office had failed
to provide soft copies of the voters roll to the contesting parties.
“We have
requested, from the RG’s office, soft copies of the voters’
roll for these wards, but the authorities are adamant they will
not avail the voters’ roll to us. The freeness, fairness and
credibility of these elections are already in doubt. The same irregularities
that plagued the July 31 election are still with us today,”
Biti told a press conference in Harare yesterday.
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
