The ruling by Justice Chitapi that MDC Alliance party does not legally exist is set to stand after the Supreme Court stroke down the appeal by MDC Alliance lawyers.
The appeal was stroke down after MDC Alliance lawyers failed to appear in the Supreme Court this Monday to challenge Justice Chitapi’s earlier ruling.
The development has an effect on the fate of MDC Alliance legislators and councillors who were recalled since March by the interim MDC-T leadership for ceasing to belong to the party. Sources who spoke to Harare Open Council said:
MDC Alliance lawyers failed to appear in the Supreme Court today for challenging the ruling by Justice Chitapi that MDC Alliance is not a legal persona.
The appeal has since been struck down by the Supreme Court.
Justice Chitapi had earlier ruled that MDC Alliance does not legally exist as a legal person who can sue in court suggesting that recalled legislators and Councilors should challenge their dismissal as individuals not as a party.
The High Court said the only evidence brought before the court showed that MDC-A was an alliance of other political parties.
The latest development comes when the leadership crisis in the MDC has raged on since the last days of the party’s founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai who succumbed to cancer in 2018.
More: Harare Open Council