MDC-T wrangle: Judgment day set
THE judgment in the matter involving the two MDC-T rival camps fighting over the ownership of the party name and symbols has been set for April 24.
The bitter wrangle involves a group led by the opposition party’s president Mr Nelson Chamisa and his rival Dr Thokozani Khupe, the party’s expelled co-deputy president.
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Francis Bere, who presided over the matter yesterday, heard arguments on the preliminary points raised by both parties.
He, however, indicated that he wanted to first check the various case law authorities that were cited by the two lawyers before making a ruling.
Mr Chamisa’s camp, through its lawyers Atherstone and Cook Legal Practitioners filed an urgent chamber application citing Dr Khupe together with her two allies Mr Abednigo Bhebhe and Mr Obert Gutu as respondents.
The Mr Chamisa led MDC-T last month fired Dr Khupe, Mr Bhebhe and Mr Gutu, following a national council meeting.
Prior to his dismissal, Mr Bhebhe was the party’s national organising secretary while Mr Gutu held the post of national party spokesperson.
MDC-T has been disintegrating following power struggles culminating from the death of its founding president Mr Morgan Tsvangirai on February 14 this year.
In his founding affidavit, MDC-T acting chairperson Mr Morgen Komichi said the respondents were infringing on their registered trademark in pursuit of their political agenda by continuing to unlawfully exploit party symbols and signs despite their expulsion.
Mr Komichi said Dr Khupe and her allies were causing confusion and misleading MDC-T followers by continuing to use party trademark, symbols and signs.
Mr Chamisa’s group, through its lawyer Advocate Lucas Nkomo, is seeking an order interdicting the respondents from “unlawfully exploiting and abusing its registered MDC-T trademark, symbols and signs.”
Adv Nkomo said the matter will depend on the judge’s ruling on preliminary points.
“If the preliminary points are upheld it will then depend on what order the judge will make. On the other hand, if the preliminary points are dismissed the lawyers will then proceed to argue the matter on the merits about whether there is infringements of the registered trademarks of the MDC-T by Dr Thokozani Khupe and her group or not,” he said
Adv Nkomo argued that his clients were the owners of the trademark, which the respondents are unlawfully exploiting, including the open palms slogan.
He said the respondents have now started creating their own political structures in the name of the applicant, including making use of the party’s registered trademark and their derivative marks, symbols and colours.
Adv Nkomo said Dr Khupe portrayed herself as the leader of the MDC-T and the party’s presidential candidate in the forthcoming harmonised elections.
The respondents through their lawyer Professor Lovemore Madhuku insisted that Dr Khupe was the acting president of the MDC-T.
Prof Madhuku said they want the application to be dismissed, arguing that it was not proper before the court.
“We are actually seeking to have the urgent chamber application dismissed on the basis of the points that we raised, the first point being that who is MDC-T? In fact, our clients are also MDC-T hence you cannot say the party has sued Dr Khupe. The other point is that the matter was not urgent and there is no irreparable harm that would be suffered by the applicant because the electoral process will solve its problems.”
“There are also technical points about the trademarks and if the judge agrees with us that would be the end of the matter and in other words it would have been dismissed. However, if he doesn’t agree with us then we will get to argue on whether or not the applicant has a case against respondents,” he said.
Prof Madhuku said Dr Khupe became acting president of MDC-T by operation of law in terms of Article 9.21.1 of the party constitution, upon the untimely death and sad passing on of party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai on 14 February 2018.
Dr Khupe said her rivals whom she accused of purportedly acting on behalf of MDC-T, chose to defy her and walked away claiming they were party members.
She also accused Mr Chamisa of imposing himself and seeking to consolidate his “coup d’état” efforts by refusing to follow the dictates of the party constitution.
Dr Khupe said her group was the genuine MDC-T and accused her rivals of being rebels bent on destroying the party and causing divisions ahead of the elections.
She said any possible confusion arising from the use of party names and symbols will be resolved in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Mr Gutu and Mr Bhebhe, in their affidavits, concurred with Dr Khupe, saying she is the rightful, lawful, legitimate and constitutional acting president of the MDC-T until such a time that an extraordinary congress is held to elect a new substantive president of the party. Since Tsvangirai’s death, the opposition party has been rocked by an acrimonious wrangle to succeed
him. Although Mr Chamisa was recently elected to lead MDC-T by the party’s national council, Dr Khupe and her allies have openly refused to recognise him as the party’s presidential candidate, insisting that constitutionally, she was the party leader until congress elects Tsvangirai’s successor. Dr Khupe has since formed new structures across the country with the epicentre of the political changes being Bulawayo. The latest development in the opposition party mark the third split of the original MDC, formed in 1999. — @ mashnets MDC-T leader Mr Nelson Chamisa has sensationally claimed that “Zanu-PF plants” were behind the assault on his bitter rival Dr Thokozani Khupe during the burial of Morgan Tsvangirai in February.
Dr Khupe, recently fired as the party’s deputy president, was assaulted in Buhera by MDC-T youths along with MDC-T secretary general Mr Douglas Mwonzora and legislator Ms Lwazi Sibanda in a vicious succession war to replace Tsvangirai, the party’s founding leader.
Despite confirmation by Dr Khupe and others that they had been assaulted by youths linked to Mr Chamisa, who seized power in a violent and chaotic fashion, the MDC-T leader, without shame, told a South Africa television station ANN7 on Monday that “Zanu-PF agent provocateurs” were behind the attacks.
Responding to a question by the host on what measures his party had taken after the violence on Dr Khupe and others, Mr Chamisa said:
“We’re leaving no stone unturned. We’ve done a lot in our power and launched a commission of inquiry, which brought some very startling revelations that the