Tshabangu,
who
claims
to
be
the
party’s
interim
secretary
general,
recalled
14
lower
house
legislators
and
eight
senators
in
October
this
year
claiming
that
they
had
ceased
to
be
CCC
members.
The
MPs
would
later
lose
two
appeals
filed
with
the
High
Court
and
the
Supreme
Court.
They
however
successfully
filed
their
nomination
papers
for
the
by-elections
under
CCC
in
what
triggered
the
latest
challenge
by
Tshabangu.
When
the
case
was
argued
Wednesday,
Tshabangu’s
lawyer
Lewis
Uriri
said
the
14
MPs
should
not
contest
under
the
name
of
a
party
from
which
they
were
recalled.
“They
were
recalled
and
as
a
result,
by-elections
were
called
for.
“We
submit
that
ZEC
should
not
have
accepted
nomination
papers
of
recalled
members
without
confirmation
of
their
restoration
to
the
party,”
Uriri
argued.
Tshabangu
filed
his
application
citing
CCC
as
the
first
applicant.
In
a
turn
of
events,
CCC
party
led
by
Nelson
Chamisa
sought
to
be
joined
in
the
proceedings.
Uriri
insisted
that
the
CCC
which
joined
the
proceedings
was
bogus.
“There
was
one
CCC
before
Munamato
Mutevedzi
(the
judge
who
dismissed
the
MPs
appeal
before
the
High
Court);
not
two.
“An
allegation
was
that
Tshabangu
was
an
impostor.
That
allegation
failed.
This
court
found
the
recall
was
not
false.
This
court
having
validated
that
recall
it
was
not
proper
for
them
to
file
papers
under
the
same
party,”
Uriri
said,
adding
that
the
Constitution
submitted
by
CCC
was
“a
fabrication”.
In
response,
Alec
Muchadehama,
representing
the
recalled
legislators,
argued
the
High
Court
had
no
jurisdiction
to
hear
the
case.
“In
our
papers,
we
raise
a
number
of
preliminary
issues
and
we
still
stand
by
them.
This
court
has
no
jurisdiction
to
entertain
this
matter.
“It
is
an
electoral
matter
which
ought
to
have
been
filed
in
the
Electoral
Court.”
Muchadehama
also
said
Tshabangu’s
request
has
been
overtaken
by
events.
“Ballot
papers
have
already
been
printed
and
sent
to
constituencies
in
readiness
for
the
election.
“All
systems
are
now
in
place
for
the
election
to
be
heard.
To
take
submissions
already
overtaken
by
events
will
be
pointless,”
he
said.
Agency
Gumbo,
representing
CCC,
complained
Tshabangu’s
application
was
being
brought
through
the
back
door.
“Before
this
court
is
a
review
application
disguised
as
an
application
for
declaration,”
he
said,
adding
that
the
process
should
have
been
executed
under
the
Electoral
Court.
“This
application
is
being
taken
in
through
the
back
door,”
Gumbo
said.
“You
cannot
seek
to
smuggle
a
review
application
where
a
process
for
review
application
has
even
been
provided
for.
“I
submit
that
this
application
must
fail.
This
application
is
full
of
misrepresentations
and
fake
lies.
A
litigant
who
brings
false
information
to
the
court
to
seek
protection
should
be
frowned
upon.
“The
first
applicant
makes
a
claim
that
respondents
were
sponsored
by
CCC
which
has
Tshabangu
as
its
interim
secretary
general
which
is
false,”
he
said.
The
judge
interjected
stating
that
the
lawyers
were
contradicting
themselves.
“By
your
own
submission,
you
seem
to
be
recognising
Tshabangu
as
not
bogus
but
a
member
who
belongs
to
another
party
also
called
CCC.
If
there
was
no
constitution,
why
then
did
you
call
him
an
impostor?”
The
judge
also
queried
why
there
was
only
one
political
party
before
his
colleague
Mutevedzi
when
the
recalled
MPs
challenged
their
recall.
He
said
parties
were
making
it
difficult
for
him
because
there
was
nothing
much
to
distinguish
the
two
CCCs.
Uriri,
in
his
closing
submissions,
also
said
the
respondents
were
seeking
to
confuse
the
court.
“They
are
now
disputing
this
saying
its
two
different
parties
which
go
by
the
same
name
yet
in
fact
they
called
Tshabangu
an
impostor
in
a
case
before
Mutevedzi
and
in
a
case
before
the
Supreme
Court.
“They
even
categorically
stated
that
they
had
reported
him
to
the
police
yet
now
they
are
making
allegations
of
two
political
parties,”
he
said.
In
response,
Muchadehama
said
this
was
the
reason
why
the
case
was
complex
for
a
court
which
is
not
an
Electoral
Court.
“This
is
why
we
said
this
court
has
no
jurisdiction
to
hear
this
matter,”
he
said
before
judgement
was
reserved.
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