adminFidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
PRESIDENT Mugabe has fixed June 10 as the date for by-elections in Headlands and Hurungwe West. The two seats fell vacant following the expulsion of Messrs Didymus Mutasa and Temba Mliswa from Zanu-PF. Mr Mutasa was MP for Headlands while Mr Mliswa represented Hurungwe West in the House of Assembly.
In an extraordinary gazette published yesterday, President Mugabe said the nomination courts shall sit on April 8 at Mutare and Chinhoyi magistrates courts, to receive nominations of candidates for elections in Headlands and Hurungwe West.
Section 39 (2) of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13), provides that after the President has been notified of a vacancy in the membership of parliament, he shall issue a proclamation ordering a new election to fill the vacancy . . . as is provided in Section 38 of the Act in regard to general election.
Under the Constitution when an MP elected on a party ticket is no longer a member of the sponsoring party, the party writes to Parliament informing the Speaker of and the seat is declared vacant.
Messrs Mutasa and Mliswa were expelled from Zanu-PF recently after they continued to undermine the revolutionary party and its leadership despite several warnings to desist from doing so.
They are now challenging their expulsion from the party and Parliament at both the High Court and Constitutional Court.
The two argue that Zanu-PF did not follow due process, hence the National Assembly Speaker’s decision to declare their seats vacant was a nullity.
Messrs Mutasa and Mliswa seek to bar any by-election in their former constituencies.
The disgraced MPs further allege that their expulsion from Parliament infringed their constitutional rights, hence the decision must be nullified.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku is on Monday expected to decide whether the constitutional application by the two should be heard on an urgent basis.
Online Reporter