Chamisa MDC Fuming As High Court Dismisses Application Seeking Order to Block Khupe Group from Recalling Lawmakers

MARYLAND — High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi on Friday dismissed a court application filed by the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa seeking an order to stop Thokozani Khupe’s MDC –T from recalling its members from parliament.

Chitapi ruled that the MDC Alliance cannot sue or be sued and as a result their case had no legal standing.

Reacting to the court ruling, MDC-A presidential spokesperson Dr. Nkululeko Sibanda, described the dismissal of the case as a “Zanu PF attempt to destroy the MDC Alliance”.

In a VOA Zimbabwe Service panel discussion, Sibanda said the Khupe MDC-T members are trying to “re-cloth themselves with the human skin in order for them to even become relevant, even worth discussing with them. You have got to disown murder … You tell me today that you are somehow relieved and you are happy that Zanu PF courts, the very same courts that have put me in prison, the very same courts that terrorized thousands of people throughout the last 40 years … now you are going to get a definition of democracy from them, a definition of constitutionalism from them. If that’s your definition of constitutionalism don’t put me in it …”

Panelist Dan Moyo of the MDC-T shot back, saying Chamisa’s time is up.

“When you come by the back door it doesn’t change who you are, just because you came by the back door. That’s exactly what Chamisa did. He came in by the back door, violently, and took over the reins of our party and thought he was going to get away with it. We are not stupid Nkululeko (Sibanda).You might have thought at that time (when Chamisa took over the leadership of the MDC) that you had a victory, you might have thought that the Zimbabwean people you pulled wool over (and told them that) the MDC they were voting for was the MDC left by Morgan Tsvangirai and they voted for that MDC and now you want to call them stupid afterwards like what your president does, it’s not going to change anything.”

He noted that the MDC-T would recall all parliamentarians who won’t recognize Khupe’s leadership of the party. “We are saying to them we are reasonable people. We are not just going to recall you for the sake of recalling you. We are not spiteful. We want you to repent. We want you to change your ways, understand that what happened after Tsvangirai’s death was a tragedy to the party. We need to correct that. If you don’t do that you will leave us with no choice but to recall you.”

Another panelist, Joseph Tshuma, a member of the ruling party’s Central Committee, said the two MDCs should sort out their conflict without blaming Zanu PF saying it is allegedly attempting to destroy the Chamisa-led formation.

“Zanu PF has nothing to do what is at play now between the MDC Alliance, which is just an alliance, and the MDC-T. Their issue should be resolved among themselves. They probably need to call a congress and get a rightful leader and we as a party are not part and parcel of that.”

The MDC-T recently recalled Thabitha Khumalo, Charlton Hwende, Lilian Timveous and Prosper Mutseyami, saying it was following a Supreme Court ruling, which declared Chamisa’s leadership null and void.

A Zimbabwean judge recently issued an interim order blocking the MDC-T from accessing over Z$7 million given to different parties under the Political Parties (Finance) Act.