The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party, led by Jameson Timba, faced a setback in its bid to claim ZiG 22.1 million under the Political Parties (Finance) Act after a judge ruled that their application was not urgent, reported ZimLive.
The CCC party is split into three factions: Timba’s faction, Welshman Ncube’s faction, and Sengezo Tshabangu’s faction.
All three factions have written to Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, demanding the funds due to the CCC after it emerged as the main opposition in the elections held in August last year.
Political party funds are allocated based on electoral performance, with ZANU PF receiving the largest share of ZiG 47.9 million.
Timba’s CCC filed a High Court application on September 29, citing the justice minister, finance minister, and Tshabangu as respondents.
The CCC led by Ncube later applied for a joinder, which was granted without opposition.
Timba’s faction requested the High Court to prevent Ziyambi and Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube from disbursing the funds to Tshabangu or anyone acting on his behalf.
Justice Faith Mushure ruled that Timba’s CCC failed to establish the urgency of their application.
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Timba had written multiple letters to Ziyambi since October 16 last year, requesting that the CCC allocation be deposited in a specific bank account.
The party acted out of concern following media reports that the government intended to pay the money to Tshabangu, who claimed to be the CCC’s secretary general after last year’s elections.
Ziyambi ignored Timba’s letters, contrary to legal requirements.
In her ruling, Justice Mushure noted that the first applicant (Timba CCC) took no action to assert their right from October 16, 2023, until September 27, 2024.
The judge ruled that the applicants cannot claim the cause of action that arose on September 19, 2024, due to the respondent’s (Ziyambi) previous non-responses.
She said the applicants waited months for responses and only gave an ultimatum at the last minute.
The judge found there was an undue delay and lack of urgency on the part of the applicants.
The judge rejected claims of irreparable harm, stating they were unsubstantiated and that the right to recover the money remains open.
The urgency of the applicants’ claim was deemed self-created.
As a result, Timba’s urgent chamber application for an interdict was struck off the roll of urgent matters for lack of urgency, with costs.
Ncube opposed the application, arguing his party was the legitimate CCC entitled to the funds and that the application was not urgent.
The judge concurred, ruling the application lacked urgency and was self-created.
The ruling allows ministers to distribute the funds to any of the three factions at their discretion.
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