ZEC Announces Suspension Of Some Binga RDC By-elections

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has announced the suspension of by-elections for wards 6, 8, 10, 15, and 23 of Binga Rural District Council scheduled for Saturday 03 December 2022.

In a statement on Friday, 02 December, ZEC chief elections officer Utloile Silaigwana said the High Court ordered the suspension of the by-elections after the nominations of five of the candidates were challenged in court. Reads the statement:

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission would like to inform members of the public that the High Court has ordered the suspension of by-elections for wards 6, 8, 10, 15, and 23 of Binga Rural District Council scheduled for Saturday 03 December 2022.

This follows urgent chamber applications by Collen Mudenda who challenged the nominations of John Simunene Sikabotu, Kingson Mpofu, Mathias Mudenda, Joseph Mwembe, and Wilson Siampolomba on the grounds that they were disqualified from contesting as candidates in terms of Section 119(2) (h) of the Electoral Act.

The Section states that a person shall be disqualified from being nominated as a candidate on the nomination day or the day of an election when he or she is in default with the payment of any levy, rate, charge, or tax due and payable to the council concerned for more than 120 days.

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The High Court ordered that the Commission should not proceed with the by-elections for the five wards pending the hearing of the cases which was postponed to 4 January 2023.

However, despite this High Court order, by-elections for ward 20 of Binga Rural District Council, wards 4, 5, and 18 of Gweru Municipality, and ward 28 of Mberengwa Rural District Council will go ahead tomorrow 3 December 2022 as scheduled.