High Court hearing to block Tsvangirai from presidential duties postponed till Wednesday

By Tererai Karimakwenda
06 December 2005

The pro-senate faction of the MDC led by secretary general Welshman Ncube has appealed to the high court to stop party president Morgan Tsvangirai from performing his duties until their disciplinary committee makes a final decision on the issue. A hearing set for Tuesday was postponed to the next day after lawyers for the applicants appealed for more time to prepare.
According to Zimonline, Tsvangirai was served with the summons Monday afternoon by the Judge President Paddington Garwe through a messenger of court. The report said the pro-senate faction also wanted Garwe to order Tsvangirai to surrender party property in his custody because he was suspended by the MDC's disciplinary committee that is headed by party deputy president Gibson Sibanda.
A statement released by Chamisa on Tuesday afternoon said Tsvangirai’s defence team was ready to oppose the application before High Court Justice Yunus Omerjee, but lawyers for Chimanikire immediately applied for a postponement on the grounds that his clients were not ready.
Chimanikire told us late Tuesday that their lawyers had only received a response to the affidavit they submitted on Tuesday morning, leaving no time for their lawyers to prepare arguments. The hearing is now set for Wednesday morning.

Chimanikire told us reports that he had approached Justice Garwe to intervene in the matter are not true. All high court cases must be approved by the Judge President. Chimanikire also defended the disciplinary committee that suspended Tsvangirai, saying 4 members and a lawyer were present when the decision was made.

Asked which faction is preparing for the congress, Chimanikire said the secretariat was playing its role by making arrangements with the help of MDC staff. He said all logistics were being taken care of and there was plenty of time to notify all members of the venue and other decisions. In an interview last week, Chimanikire said Tsvangirai was an outlaw not welcome at the congress.

The hearing Wednesday will most likely determine what happens next. We were unable to get hold of Nelson Chamisa, acting spokesman for Tsvangirai’s camp.