Harare (New Ziana) – The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a High Court ruling which barred 12 Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) aspiring National Assembly candidates in Bulawayo from contesting in the August 23 general elections.

The 12 had appealed against the ruling by Justice Bongani Ndlovu that they had filed their nomination papers after the 4 PM cut off time.

This had meant that besides the National Assembly seats, the opposition party would have forfeited the youth and women’s quota seats allocated on the basis of proportional representation based on votes each party obtains in the elections for Parliament, in addition to the Senate representation.

Justice Ndlovu’s judgment followed an application by 12 ZANU (PF) members from 12 Bulawayo constituencies to bar the CCC candidates on the grounds that they filed their nomination papers after the 4PM deadline on June 21.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had opposed the applications, insisting that the 12 had filed before 4PM.

While the CCC will be on top of the moon over the Supreme Court judgement, it however dispels its allegations, together with its Western allies, that the Zimbabwean courts are captured by the ruling Zanu PF party.

The opposition is known for its double standards of crying foul when court judgements go against them, but celebrating when they rule in their favour.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is on record stating that he does not interfere with the operations of the courts, with his refusal to intervene in the case of CCC deputy national chairperson Job Sikhala being a case in point.

This was after opposition National Constitutional Assembly leader Dr Lovemore Madhuku had suggested that CCC leader Nelson Chamisa should engage President Mnangagwa to facilitate the early trial of Sikhala, who has been languishing in remand prison awaiting trial on charges of inciting political violence.

New Ziana