The Bulawayo High Court has granted an order reinstating Tinashe Kambarami as deputy mayor and Ward 3 councillor of the Bulawayo City Council to bring to an end a three-year battle in court.
Kambarami was removed from office in 2019 following a 2018 court application by the 1893 Mthwakazi Restoration Movement (1893MRM).
The pressure group approached the Bulawayo High Court seeking his termination from office claiming he was unfit for office due to his criminal record.
This was after Kambarami pleaded guilty to theft charges when he appeared before a Bulawayo magistrate in July 2018.
He was fined $80 or 18 days in prison for stealing an extension cord from an electrician he had hired to do manual work at his offices.
In 2019, Bulawayo High Court Justice Thompson Mabhikwa ruled that Kambarami was unfit for office.
Kambarami appealed his conviction and also challenged his removal from council and was cleared by the Supreme Court.
Early this year, Kambarami, through his then-lawyer, Maqhawe Mpofu challenged the March 26 by-election in his ward by filing a declarator. He won the case.
Yesterday Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Martin Makonese confirmed that a vacancy still existed in Ward 3, since Kambarami was evicted from the city council.
In an interview with CITE, Kambarami’s lawyer, Bruce Masamvu of Mutatu Masamvu and Da Silva-Gustavo Law Chambers, said following the order by the Supreme Court, his client was now allowed to assume his normal duties as a councillor and deputy mayor. He said:
Previously, there was an order of the court which stopped the nomination court, in essence, it then follows that there was no election that was done on Ward 3, so what the High Court is simply saying now is that Kambarami can resume his normal duties.
As far as the order is concerned, Kambarami is supposed to resume his normal duties as before he was dismissed. Our hope is he takes over as deputy mayor of Bulawayo.
Kambarami was delighted with the latest development and vowed to pursue some of the projects he was doing in the ward before his suspension. He said:
We have been in court for a long time, as you all know we stopped the by-election in Ward 3 after filing an application for a declarator which was finalised today.
The whole story emanated from the case by 1893MRM that nullified my election as a councillor until I appealed.
There was some kind of resistance for me to be reinstated which is the reason why I am here. I am happy that justice has been served today.
… I am sure within a short space of time I will be able to pursue some of the projects I was doing in my ward and in the city in general.
We have a lot of issues – water and the parking system, issues that I could have been standing in for residents, not only from my ward but the City of Bulawayo.
It has always been my hope to serve the residents of Ward 3 and Bulawayo. I have plans which I am going to pursue.
More: CITE