Court Orders Mutambara To Step Down As MDC Leader

High Court Judge, Justice Lawrence Kamocha in his judgment at the Bulawayo High Court on Thursday morning confirmed a provisional order that was granted in February this year against Mutambara directing him to stop masquerading as the MDC president and principal.

“The applicants are entitled to the provisional draft order,” Justice Kamocha said in his judgment read on his behalf by Justice Nicholas Mathonsi.

Mutambara had filed papers opposing the provisional order maintaining that he is still in charge of the party.

He had argued that the provisional order granted by the High Court in February was silent on the principal issue, arguing that this means he is the principal in the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

However, Thursday’s judgment ordered Mutambara to stop forthwith from pretending to be the MDC president and principal.

On February 16 this year, senior Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nicholas Ndou granted a provincial order interdicting Mutambara from purporting to be the MDC leader.

Mutambara, who is Deputy Prime Minister in the inclusive Government, was further interdicted from exercising any function vested in the president of the MDC. He was further interdicted from in anyway interfering with the structures and organs of the party.

Welshman Ncube later approached the court’s seeking an order confirming the provisional order and stopping Mutambara from acting as principal which has since been granted by Justice Kamocha.

At the same time, Mutambara filed papers opposing the provisional order against him.

The order stops Prof Mutambara from exercising any function vested in the president of the MDC.

Ncube was elected MDC president at the party’s congress in Harare in January this year. That election was later challenged by a section of the MDC, which argued that the correct process had not been followed.