The Supreme Court is set to hand down its ruling in the opposition MDC leadership dispute involving Nelson Chamisa and Thokozani Khupe.
Khupe broke the news on Twitter when she announced that her lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku had called to inform her that the ruling reserved since October last is now set to be handed down at 3pm.
“I’ve just received a call from my lawyer @ProfMadhuku informing me that the SC, judgement will be handed down today @ 3pm. I call upon our members & supporters to remain calm & accept whatever the outcome of judgement is. In unity let’s renew & build our great Party and Country,” said Khupe.
Responding to Khupe, MDC Alliance Secretary General Charlton Hwende said their lawyers were yet to be informed of the impending ruling.
“Ms Khupe has just announced that the Supreme Court judgement will be issued at 3pm today. His supporters already celebrating and have attempted a hostile takeover of the MRT Building this morning. All Courts are supposed to be closed #COVID19 & our lawyers have not been informed,” said Hwende.
During the Supreme Court hearing, Khupe who was responding to an appeal by Chamisa, who is challenging the decision by the High Court which stripped him of the MDC-T presidency, had urged the judges’ bench to recognise the opposition’s party structures that existed in 2014 when the opposition party was being led by the late founder Morgan Richard Tsvangirai.
Khupe said High Court judge Justice Edith Mushore did not misdirect herself when she ruled that the MDC constitution does not provide for the appointment of more than one deputy president as was done by Tsvangirai when he appointed Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri in 2016.
Chamisa, represented by advocate Thabani Mpofu, accused Khupe of acting scandalously by seeking a positive relief in a matter in which she did not participate at the High Court.
Chamisa insisted that the MDC’s constitution provided for the appointment of more than one deputy president and that Justice Mushore’s determination was misdirected, adding that Khupe had since moved on by leading her own party which also held its national congress and, above all, she participated in the July 2018 general elections as MDC-T presidential candidate.
