Electoral Court Judge Justice Evangelista Kabasa on Wednesday reserved judgment in a case brought by members of the Early Elected Democrats seeking to bar 12 candidates of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) from participating in the upcoming elections.
The EED alleged that the CCC candidates submitted their nomination papers after the deadline of 4 pm on June 21, 2023.
The case opened with the lawyers of the respondents making their points in limine where they tore the applicants’ application for claiming urgency yet they had filed their case on July 16, 2023, 25 days since the Nomination Court sat on June 21, 2023.
The CCC candidates represented by Professor Welshman Ncube of Mathonsi Ncube Law Chambers argued that the applicants did not act immediately after the Nomination Court sat so they must explain why they filed their case late.
Prof Ncube said the applicants had no right to seek a review of a decision made by another court and have no legal interest in the submission of nomination papers by the CCC candidates.
“Even if the matter is inherently urgent and the applicant fails to treat it as urgent, the applicant cannot be heard after three weeks to almost a month. This is a self-declared urgency and the court must decline that inherent urgency,” he said.
Representing ZEC, Tawanda Kanengoni of Nyika, Kanengoni and Partners said all the 12 applications before the court were “silent on urgency and the only sign of urgency was a Certificate of Urgency which naturally cannot stand on its own.”
Kanengoni said electoral rules regarding appeals say applicants must appeal in four days if they do not have their right to do so expires.
He also said the applicants cannot seek to nullify a process yet other electoral processes had been done and were in motion.
“Ballot papers have to be designed, printed, distributed and campaigns are being done, if the court entertains applicants what happens to all these electoral processes,” he said.
Kanengoni also said there was postal voting to consider, as postal ballots have to be sent in advance, meaning these ballot papers were designed in advance as some members of the electorate should vote on those ballot papers before the actual election day.
On behalf of the applicants, Nqobizitha Ndlovu from Cheda and Partners Legal Practitioners made some concessions and sought a condonation arguing that there is no prejudice suffered by the respondents
