JUSTICE Tendai Uchena has dismissed businessman and politician Temba Mliswa’s electoral petition on the Hurungwe West by-elections on a technicality with costs, saying he failed to specify the relief sought in his application challenging Keith Guzah’s victory.
by PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
Mliswa, in his application, argued that there was widespread political violence and intimidation against his supporters in the run-up to the poll and, therefore, the election was neither free nor fair.
Uchena said failure to comply with the rules of the court in launching the electoral petition rendered the application fatally defective.
“The Electoral petition filed by the petitioner is fatally defective and is, therefore, a nullity, for want of compliance with rule 21(g) of the Electoral Applications, Appeals and Petitions Rules 1995,” Uchena said.
“The exact relief sought must appear ex facie (on the face of it) the petition and, therefore, the petitioner’s petition is fatally defective to the extent that there is no valid petition before the court.”
Rule 21 provides that, inter alia, an election petition shall state the grounds relied on to sustain the petition and the exact relief sought.
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Uchena further ruled: “The petitioner’s petition is, hereby, dismissed with costs and that the respondent Guzah be and is, hereby, declared duly elected member of the National Assembly for the Hurungwe West Constituency.”
It was not clear how much Mliswa will have to pay for the costs except that petitioners pay $10 000 deposit with the court before their cases are heard.
Mliswa’s lawyer Kudzai Eric Kadzere said he would be consulting with his client for further instructions on how to proceed over the court’s ruling.
“The matter was dismissed on a technicality and nothing on the merits of the case was looked into. I will have to get instructions from my client on the way forward,” Kadzere said.
Advocate Mbita, instructed by Mutangamira and Associates, represented Guzah in the matter.
