Judge says issues of legitimacy in the MDC-T cannot be resolved on the basis of popularity

High Court Judge Francis Bere might have torched a storm with supporters of the Nelson Chamisa faction of the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai when he threw out their urgent application to bar the Thokozani Khupe faction from using the party name and symbol yesterday.

He said issues of legitimacy in the MDC-T cannot be resolved on the basis of popularity or lack of it.

Supporters of Nelson Chamisa have been riding on his popularity to dismiss Khupe claiming she does not have support.

According to the Chronicle, Justice Bere said there was a constitutional crisis within the party which has to be solved urgently.

“There is a constitutional crisis in the MDC-T which must be urgently resolved first to determine the legitimacy to one of the competing parties to the leadership of the party. That resolution is the only one that must confer legitimacy to one of the competing parties to the leadership of the MDC-T,” he said.

“It therefore makes sense to put that dispute before an impartial body to give guidance or lasting solution to the conflict. Issues of legitimacy in the MDC-T cannot be resolved on the basis of popularity or lack of it.

“There should be no room for the subversion of that constitution by any of the factions or any member of the party, and whenever that happens, it would be a serious violation of the rule of law. The issue of a trade mark is a peripheral one that should resolve itself once the substantive issue of the legitimacy to the MDC-T leadership is resolved.

“Whichever faction is determined to be the legitimate claimant to the MDC-T throne will automatically lay claim to the party’s trademark.”

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