1. High Court judge to rule on Mpopoma by-election
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Judge to rule on Mpopoma by-election
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• What next in Zimbabwe's electoral process?
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• Recount goes ahead as judge rejects MDC
petition

2. By Lindie Whiz
A BULAWAYO judge will rule
Wednesday on an application by
an aspiring MP who wants a by-
election in the Pelandaba-
Mpopoma constituency to be
called promptly by the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Justice Nicholas Ndou of the
Electoral Court withheld judgment last Friday on the order sought by Job
Sibanda, a lawyer running as an independent candidate.
Elections were not held in Pelandaba-Mpopoma, together with Redcliff and
Gwanda North, following the death of opposition MDC candidates after the
nomination court sitting for the March 29 general elections.
Sibanda states in his founding affidavit that after the Nomination Court sitting in
February, and during the campaign period, he travelled the length and breadth
of the constituency canvassing for votes and by the date of the election he had
“done enough to win the parliamentary seat in my constituency".
Sibanda accused the Electoral Court of a "wilful flouting of the provisions of the
Electoral Act” by delaying announcing a by-election.
ZEC lawyer George Chikumbirike, argued that the Chief Elections Officer, the
Chief Elections Officer and the ZEC, cited as the first and second respondents
respectively, had been wrongly joined in the court application.
He argued that the two respondents only participate if an election process has
been started, that is through the order of the President.
Chikumbirike further argued that the Electoral Court had no jurisdiction to hear
the application. Its functions, the lawyer said, are to preside over election
petitions.
He said the proper court, which Sibanda should have approached, is the High
Court. The matter, Chikurumbirike also argued, was not urgent in any way and
should be treated as any other High Court civil case.
"The application before this court is hopelessly defective and flawed. The
Applicant (Sibanda) has not set out the basis of his application in the papers
that are before the court. A chamber application should relate to issues of law,"
submitted Chikumbirike.
Walter Nyabadza, of the Attorney General’s Office, representing President
Mugabe, asked for a postponement of the matter arguing that he had not been
given enough time to get full instructions from the Civil Division in Harare.
• MDC challenges 60 House of Assembly results
• Few options for MDC in poll stalemate
• High Court dismisses MDC poll results demand
• High Court orders ZEC to abandon recount
• MDC says Tsvangirai will not stand in run-off
• SENATE ELECTION RESULTS
• HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ELECTION RESULTS

3. In response, Sibanda’s lawyer Kossam Ncube argued that the postponement
being sought by Nyabadza would defeat the whole purpose of bringing the
matter as an urgent application.
After a 30-minute recess, Justice Ndou heard in his chambers from another of
Sibanda’s lawyers, Charles Paul Moyo, who indicated they were consenting to
withdrawing of the action against the Chief Elections Officer and the ZEC, but
Chikumbirike would not take any of that.
“My clients are not consenting to the withdrawal of the case against them and
the best way to proceed is for the court to dismiss the case with costs at a
higher scale,” the lawyer said.
Justice Ndou said he would make a ruling on all the matters that Chikumbirike
had raised.
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