The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has appealed against the High Court’s ruling that disqualified its 12 MP candidates from contesting the 2023 elections. The Party’s national spokesperson, Fadzayi Mahere, stated that the appeal suspends the High Court judgment until the appeal is heard and determined. She said:
Our lawyers confirm that they have filed an appeal against yesterday’s judgment under Case Number SCB86/23. The noting of the appeal suspends the operation of the judgment. Our candidates are accordingly still on the ballot & remain there until the appeal is heard & determined.
CCC lawyer, Thabani Mpofu, confirmed the development assuring that the fact that the Supreme Court is going on vacation from July 29 until September 10 would not create complications. Mpofu clarified that parties can appeal during the vacation period. He said:
We have appealed. It is not true that parties cannot appeal during vacation. Relax! What we are dealing with has nothing to do with the law. Zimbabweans must confront this dictatorship in the only lawful way possible The last thing that you must do is to let them deflate you.
On Thursday, July 27, 2023, High Court judge, Justice Nokuthula Moyo, delivered the ruling on behalf of Justice Bongani Ndlovu, disqualifying 12 CCC candidates from the 2023 elections. The judge found that the CCC candidates, along with three others from different political parties, had contravened the Electoral Act by submitting their nomination papers through a police officer on June 21, when the Nomination Court sat.
ZEC officers who were assessors of the Nomination Court which sat on the 21st of June 2023 at Tredgold Magistrates Court, testified in court that the CCC candidates submitted their nomination papers on time. They also stated that the nomination officer is the one who instructed the police to collect all nomination papers from aspiring candidates outside the courtroom when the court was closing at 4 pm on 21 June.