Three former legislators, Abednico Bhebhe (Nkayi South), Njabuliso Mguni (Lupane East) and Norman Mpofu(Bulilima East) lost their parliamentary seats in 2009 following their expulsion from the MDC led by Welshman Ncube on allegations of undermining the party.
The trio immediately took their case to the High Court and won, with the judge ordering that by-elections be held. But Mugabe appealed to the Supreme Court, claiming that government had no money to conduct the polls.
A full Supreme Court bench recently unanimously dismissed Mugabe’s appeal and ordered new elections to fill the vacancies no later than 30 August 2012.
“The people of Nkayi South are very excited about this Supreme Court judgment. We have gone for almost three years without an MP. We hope Mugabe is going to respect this order so that we can elect our own MP,” said Sambulo Maphosa, a Nkayi Rural District councillor.
Villager Brenda Mpofu welcomed the judgment. “People have been prevented from enjoying development for a long time. The constituency is currently facing serious water and food shortages. People of Nkayi South have been waiting for a long time to be given this opportunity to elect their representative,” she said.
Bhebhe, now the MDC-T deputy organising secretary, said he expected Mugabe to honour the Supreme Court judgment. “We do not rule out the possibility of Mugabe ignoring it, but as he prepares for his retirement, he should use this opportunity to cleanse his image and try to preserve the little that remains of it,” Bhebhe said.
More than 30 legislative seats have become vacant since the last elections in 2008 – and remain unfilled.
Post published in: News