The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has filed opposing papers in a court case brought by 10 members of the Citizens for Coalition Change (CCC). The CCC members are challenging the rejection of their nomination papers for the candidature of Bulawayo Provincial Council. The members argue that they were unlawfully denied the opportunity to file nomination papers when the Nomination Court sat on June 21. ZEC rejected the CCC nomination papers arguing that they were filed after 4 pm.
The CCC members then filed an urgent application at the Bulawayo High Court seeking a review of ZEC’s decision not to accept their nomination papers. Their lawyers argued:
Further, the refusal by the first respondent (Mr Ncube) to allow the applicants to submit new nomination papers was grossly unreasonable and insupportable of the facts of this case.
However, ZEC has argued that there is no valid application before the court warranting the relief sought by the CCC members. Mr Ncube has argued that his decision is final in terms of the Electoral Act, and the High Court lacks jurisdiction in the matter. Through his lawyers, Ncube said:
The right to appeal is afforded to the sponsoring political party and not to the listed candidates on the party-list. In this instance, the right reposed in the CCC party. If such right is not exercised with the four-day period prescribed, the right to appeal shall lapse and the decision of the nomination officer shall be final.
In the present matter, the applicants, following my decision not to accept their nomination papers, noted an appeal to the Electoral Court sitting in Bulawayo under case number EC02/2023. They did so in their individual capacities and not through their political party, thus making their appeal fatally defective.
Mr Ncube also stated that the Nomination Court cannot receive and consider applicants’ papers as it is only the President who can proclaim. He further added that the court has no legal basis to make an order that effectively makes a new proclamation or supplements the one already made by the President.
ZEC lawyers also argued that the applicants were afforded all the facilities and rights prescribed in terms of section 45E of the Electoral Act and were not denied the right to file nomination papers. They say the application should be struck off the roll, they argued.
Ncube stated that towards the close of the Nomination Court, he announced in court that they were about to close and invited all those who were present to submit their nomination papers. He further instructed the police officers to collect all nomination papers outside the court, except those already inside. When Ncube examined the party lists for the CCC, he found that the party had submitted three party lists for Senatorial, National Assembly and Youth quota, but did not have one for the provincial council. He sent their representative back to make corrections on anomalies. The corrected party-list nomination papers were returned with the provincial council party list added, which was not part of the original submission.
Ncube denied losing the nomination papers of the CCC members and stated that the factual narration given by the applicants is not correct. He added that he acted fully within the law, and there is no basis for the application. He further argued that the application has fatal defects that mitigate against the court granting any relief to the applicants.
The Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Bongani Ndlovu, has reserved judgment after hearing the matter on Monday.