BULAWAYO – President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday proclaimed December 9 as the date for by-elections to fill 14 National Assembly vacancies following the recall of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) MPs just over a month after elections.

In an extraordinary gazette, Mnangagwa said the nomination courts will sit on November 7 to register candidates.

CCC officials said the decision to publish the proclamation while the recalls are being challenged in court was “a clear indication of Mnangagwa’s involvement in the recalls.”

“Zimbabwe is now facing an unprecedented constitutional and political crisis,” the CCC said in a statement. “The party will explore all available solutions to protect the nation from the unnecessary anguish of going through another election immediately after a contentious one.”

Sengezo Tshabangu, who has declared himself CCC secretary general, recalled 14 MPs, nine senators and 17 councillors just over a month after they were sworn-in following elections on August 23.

The CCC says he is an impostor, and the party’s statement added: “As a matter of fact, the CCC has not recalled any party member. Additionally, the CCC does not have an interim secretary general position. Furthermore, Sengezo Tshabangu, the impostor, is not a registered CCC member as he is absent from our official registers.”

The 14 CCC MPs have gone to court challenging their recalls. They are suing Tshabangu, the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

In a responding affidavit, ZEC’s elections officer Utoile Silaigwana said the MPs should have cited Mnangagwa, who proclaims election dates. ZEC, he maintains, cannot stop a lawful process.

Silaigwana said: “A crucial party to the process of filling vacancies in the House of Assembly has been omitted from the matter: the president of the republic.

“Any recall pursuant to which a recall arises and necessitates the holding of a by-election in turn activates the constitutional obligations of the president of the republic to proclaim such by-elections and thus set the timetable thereof.

“Once the president makes the proclamation, ZEC is again enjoined by dictate of the law to proceed with the electoral process as proclaimed lest it be in violation of its constitutional mandate to conduct by-elections so proclaimed.”

In his responding affidavit, Tshabangu maintains that he is the CCC interim secretary general.

“The applicants have alleged the following: They have alleged that I am not a member of CCC but failed to attach the constitution or any other documents that speak to or prove whether I am a member or not and whether they are members or not,” Tshabangu argues.

“By the same token, they have not attached the relevant documents showing that I am not the interim secretary general and whether or not this position exists or not. Further, they have not attached their membership cards, membership registers nor proffered any explanation for the absence of those.

“In the absence of such, their pleadings fail to prove their case. This becomes a classic dispute of facts which cannot be resolved on the papers and should have been clearly foreseen by the applicants.”

The CCC led by Nelson Chamisa has no publicly-known constitution, and also had no known party positions until Tshabangu declared himself interim secretary general.

Curiously, the CCC MPs also do not cite their political party in the proceedings, which Tshabangu argues is fatal to their application.

“The relief sought,” he says, “fails to set aside the actions of the party but rather seeks to set aside my actions, which actions and authority were derived from the party. In terms of section 129(k) of the constitution, it is the party and only the party that can recall.

“Without an order setting aside the actions of the party or interdicting the party, an interdict against me or the Speaker of Parliament is incompetent and even if granted would be of no effect.”

The matter will be heard at the Harare High Court on November 2.