The main opposition party in Zimbabwe, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa, and the 15 recalled Members of Parliament (MPs) have filed a court application to challenge the decision made by the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda. Many lawyers believe that the decision was unreasonable and are seeking to have it reversed. An unmaned “prominent lawyer” is quoted by journalist Hopewell Chin’ono as saying:
…the Speaker was discharging an administrative function, and he was obliged to give those likely to be affected by his actions the right to be heard.
Meanwhile, the constitutional court has already ruled that the Speaker’s role under section 129(1)(k) is not administrative but facilitative. It reads:
if the Member has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or the President f the Senate, as the case may be, has declared that the Member has ceased to belong to it.
Some context:
Sengezo Tshabangu, who claims to be the interim Secretary General of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), sent letters to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacobb Mudenda, and the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Winston Chitando, purporting to recall 15 CCC Members of Parliament (MPs) and councillors.
Tshabangu alleged that these elected officials were no longer members of the CCC. Tshabangu is a former member of the Moverment for Democratic Change (MDC) founded by the late former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) a defunct party formed by former Finance Minister Tendai Biti.
Speaker Jacob Mudenda acted on the instructions and expelled the MPs from Parliament, exacerbating the political crisis that started with the disputed August 23, 2023 elections. The CCC has called for fresh elections supervised by SADC, the African Union (AU), or the United Nation (UN), as they believe the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is biased.
In protest of the recalls, the CCC disengaged from the National Assembly, Senate, and Local Government Authorities and issued a 14-day ultimatum for the recalls to be reversed, threatening to withdraw its members from Parliament. The CCC party claims that Tshabangu is not a member and does not hold any official position within the party. Party leader Chamisa wrote to Mudenda, asking him to disregard Tshabangu’s communication regarding the CCC MPs. However, Mudenda still expelled the MPs from parliament.