by Political Reporter

Constitutional law expert, Professor Lovemore Madhuku has said the recently held MDC-T Extra Ordinary Congress (EOC) was conducted in accordance with the law and until a competent court sets aside the resolution of the congress, Douglas Mwonzora remains duly elected as the second substantive president of the MDC-T.

Giving his legal opinion on the MDC-T’s congress, Professor Madhuku said the alleged suspension of the EOC by Khupe was null and void at law.

“There are only two ways in which the voting process could have been stopped prematurely, either by a decision of the independent electoral body itself based on objectively verifiable reasons or by an order of a competent court.

“As the voting process could not have been stopped by the Acting President (given the conduct of interest point above), at law, the voting at the EOC on 27 December 2020 was never stopped,” opined Professor Madhuku.

Madhuku added that the results announced by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) that declared Mwonzora as the MDC-T President were valid.

“…because the voting was never stopped at law, the results announced by the Independent Electoral body are presumed to be valid. They enjoy a presumption of validity.

“The presumption of validity means that unless set aside by a competent court, Douglas Mwonzora is duly elected as President,” said Professor Madhuku in a statement.

Meanwhile, the MDC-T acting spokesperson, Khalipani Pugeni, said Khupe is still in charge of the MDC-T since the National Council of that party endorsed the suspension of the EOC at a virtual meeting held yesterday.

“Dr Khupe is still in control of the party. Fortunate enough you were all there, you saw what happened. Indeed there is a dispute,” said Pugeni.

In an interview with this publication, Mwonzora claimed that Dr Khupe is not an ordinary party member as being claimed by other publications, but has reverted back to her former position as the vice president of the MDC-T.

“Dr Thokozani Khupe is not an ordinary member of the party as she has naturally reverted to her old position of vice president. I believe that after tempers have cooled down, she will accept the EOC results,” said Mwonzora.

The MDC-T was ordered by the Supreme Court in March this year to hold an EOC to elect a substantive leader to replace the late Morgan Tsvangirai who succumbed to cancer in February 2018. Khupe, Mwonzora, Elias Mudzuri and Morgan Komichi battled it out for the top post, which was eventually won by Mwonzora last Sunday.