The disqualified independent candidate for the Victoria Falls City Council Ward 1 by-election, Ephias Mambume, has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the High Court’s decision to bar him from contesting the November 30 poll.
Mambume alleges he is a victim of a “well-resourced corrupt cabal” within the local authority seeking to remove him to advance their interests.
The High Court disqualified Mambume following an electoral petition by Zanu PF candidate Tonderai Mutasa, who argued that Mambume was in default on water and rates payments exceeding US$17 000 for over 120 days, a violation of the Electoral Act.
This ruling automatically declared Mutasa the duly elected councillor for Ward 1, as he and Mambume were the only candidates.
However, Mambume, represented by Tanaka Law Chambers, claims the disqualification was orchestrated by “corrupt officials” in the Victoria Falls City Council.
In an interview with CITE, Mambume alleged that his leadership style, which prioritised accountability, led to conflicts with the city’s mayor, town clerk, and “captured councillors.”
“I was elected in 2023 harmonised election and won the ward by close to 75 percent of the vote. My style of leadership really made me at loggerheads with the town clerk, the mayor and the rest of the captured councillors,” he said.
“I think I would stop them from doing what they wanted to do in terms of pushing through some dirty deals. So my recall was sponsored, I have no doubt about it. They had a meeting in Bulawayo with Tshabangu and they begged him to remove me because I was frustrating their deals.”
Mambume further accused council officials of fabricating utility bills to create the appearance of arrears.
“After my recall on August 30, 2024, the council opened a new water account for my house and posted an invoice of US$4 968 the same day. On October 16, a day after nomination, they created another account for my commercial property and posted US$7 175,” he explained.
He alleged that the council used an Excel spreadsheet to backdate these amounts to make it seem as if they were overdue for over 120 days.
“When they realised that these amounts have been posted onto this account less than 30 days before the Nomination Court, they sat down and did an Excel spreadsheet, breaking down those invoices into small little bits and pieces and spreading those pieces and bits down to prior months,” he stated.
“They then used that spreadsheet as a basis to say I owe the local authority in excess of 120 days. So, in court, I produced the original invoice that council sends to our houses. The original invoice shows that as at October, there was only an amount that was in 30 days.
60 days, 90 days, 120 days, had zero, zero, zero.”
Mambume presented original invoices and receipts in court to prove that his accounts were not in arrears.
He stated that a fiscalised receipt dated October 8, 2024, confirmed his rates were paid up before the nomination court.
“For the rates’ account, I showed the court a receipt, a fiscalised legal receipt that we get when we pay because I paid up my rates account on 8 October 2024. That was seven days before nomination court,” Mambume said.
Despite this, the High Court ruled against him, citing a lack of date stamps on his evidence.
“I produced all those original documents and guess what? The judge then said they don’t have date stamps,” he said.
Mambume accused the town clerk and other officials of openly supporting his opponent, alleging they bragged about securing his disqualification.
“I wouldn’t labour myself talking about the bragging that the town clerk, the mayor and his crew were doing a week before the court was to sit down, saying that no, the Zanu PF candidate should not even bother himself campaigning because we’ve finished the deal,” he said.
“The town clerk even claimed my Supreme Court appeal is a ‘dying horse’s kicks.’ This shows how deeply the local authority is involved in pushing my opponent’s agenda.”
He also noted inconsistencies in the High Court case, stating that one of the two properties cited in the arrears claims was dropped during proceedings, leaving only one property in dispute.
“It’s very important for me to note this, the court case – the application – had two properties that was said I was in default with respect to payment of rates and water charges. In court the applicant failed to prove that I was in arrears for one of the properties and they said ‘we are abandoning this one,’” he claimed.
“There’s only property which is the subject of this laughable judgement from the High Court and it is only the property that I can show the original real documents from the city council and original receipt it’s just one property and it’s not in default.”
The controversy has sparked criticism from opposition figures, including Promise Mkwananzi, spokesperson for one of the factions of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
“We are witnessing the regression of democratic contestation under Mnangagwa’s regime. This dismemberment of opposition politics must be resisted,” Mkwananzi said.
