Tsvangirai drags Kasukuwere to court

Kasukuwere must respect the law … MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai

Tsvangirai said the Zanu PF government has shown no desire to implement the new Constitution with 400 existing Acts of Parliament still to be aligned to the new charter.

The current bone of contention involves the newly appointed Harare Town Clerk, former NMB Bank Chief Executive Officer, James Mushore, who has been barred from entering council offices at Town House.

Last week, government said his appointment was null and void as Zanu PF linked him to MDC-T but Tsvangirai vehemently denied any link between his party and Mushore.

“The MDC-T is mounting an urgent application to the High Court for an interdict to stop the minister from taking this predatory action. The Judiciary has been consistent in the affairs of elected Councils,” Tsvangirai told a press conference at Harvest House, MDC-T headquarters.

He added, “We have a challenge as MDC-T. The Minister of Local Government has threatened to dissolve the elected Council of Harare City as he plans to replace it with an unelected Commission and this represents a gross abuse of Ministerial authority and a complete waste of time for the courts and tax payer’s money.

“The minister no longer has the authority to dismiss or suspend councilors outside the procedures laid down in the Constitution as he does not have the power to appoint a Commission.”

Tsvangirai said the Town Clerk’s post is a civilian appointment and “I do not know if he is MDC-T or Zanu PF”.

He further lamented, “MDC-T is sick and tired of Zanu PF leaders who consistently brush aside the Constitution as just a piece of paper and continue to act as if the country has no constitution.”

A visibly irate Tsvangirai said the basis of all progress was founded in the rule of law and the independence of the Judiciary, adding no country could effectively function without adhering to such principles.

Last year, Kasukuwere fired Gweru Mayor, Hamutendi Kombayi and other councillors and appointed a commission to run the affairs of the Midlands capital. Kombayi and his colleagues have since been reinstated by the High Court.