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The Herald
Political Editor
As the battle for control of the country’s main opposition, the MDC-T, continues, the party’s former spokesman and legal expert, Obert Gutu, has said that only a court of law can reverse the outcome of the extraordinary congress.
He said that Dr. Thokozani Khupe, who lost last Sunday’s election to Douglas Mwonzora and later claimed to have suspended him, no longer had those powers as the two were competitors in the race to replace the late party leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
On Monday, Dr. Khupe chaired a meeting of the national council that resolved to expel Mwonzora, allegedly for rigging the weekend’s elections and also for abusing party funds allocated under the Political Party Financing Act. .
However, Mr. Gutu said that no one from the party president or the national president had such powers under the MDC-T constitution.
“In terms of the constitution of the MDC, the moment you enter a contest you are no longer the holder of your position. The election must be by secret ballot conducted by an independent electoral board designated by the party to prepare and carry out the election, it is the duty of the electoral board to ensure that they have a legitimate voter registry agreed by all candidates. . It is also essential to ensure that all delegates have the opportunity to cast their vote. It is also the duty of the electoral board to ensure that the election is credible, that there is no manipulation, and that it is free and fair. The contestants have the same rank, the election is entered at the same level, it is not possible during the congress to try to suspend the other candidates, such a scenario would bastardize the entire process, it would be absurd ”, said Mr. Gutu.
Citing a litany of irregularities, Dr. Khupe, who was physically and verbally attacked by supporters of Mr. Mwonzora during the congress, suspended the entire electoral process.
However, Gutu, who once served as Dr. Khupe’s deputy following another MDC-T split following Tsvangirai’s death in 2018, said that no one has authority over a fellow candidate under the party’s constitution.
“As a fellow candidate, Dr. Khupe was no longer the interim president, nor was Mr. Morgen Komichi the interim president because he was also in the running, attempts to reverse the outcome of the congress are therefore ridiculous and they will not pass legal scrutiny in any court of law, the issue of suspension fades, even the supposed cancellation of congress also fades. “
Mr. Gutu added that only the electoral board has legal authority to suspend any election and also dismissed suggestions from Dr. Khupe’s supporters that voters did not constitute a quorum under the party constitution.
“According to the MDC constitution for any congress, for it to be valid in law, at least two-thirds of the congressional delegates must be available, now we don’t know how many delegates from 2014 are still MDC members, some have resigned, some are dead , some have joined other parts, so I don’t know the magic number that makes up two-thirds, that becomes a math question. However, in terms of the constitution, if the number of delegates does not meet the quorum, it does not mean that the result is null, but that another congress must be held to validate or invalidate the result, ”said Gutu.
Mr. Gutu added that the only route available to Dr. Khupe is to approach the courts.
“Until then, the results of that congress and its resolutions are valid, without going to court, no word of mouth or amount of politicking can put that aside.”
Mr. Mwonzora was declared the winner by the electoral board, after obtaining 883 votes to Dr. Khupe’s 118. The other contestants, Mr. Morgen Komichi and engineer Elias Mudzuri, received nine and 14 votes respectively.
In March of this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the MDC-T should hold its extraordinary congress before July 31, but due to the blockade that was introduced after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the party could not proceed as had originally ordered. The courts.
