A High Court judge is expected to give judgment next week on an urgent application in a matter in which the Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Nelson Chamisa is seeking an interim order to bar expelled vice president Thokozani Khupe from using the party name and logo.
Justice Francis Bere reserved judgement in the case heard on Tuesday in Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Bulawayo, in which Khupe’s attorney Lovemore Madhuku argued that the matter was not urgent since Khupe still maintains that she is the legitimate acting president of the MDC-T.
Madhuku noted that the controversy over the leadership wrangle should be sorted first before the court determines the use of the party name and logo.
He also argued that Khupe has already challenged her withdrawal from parliament by the Chamisa formation and as a result, this needs to be addressed too before other issues raised by the other MDC-T faction.
On the other hand, Nkomo argued that the matter needs to be determined as an urgent case since Khupe is no longer a member of the MDC-T following her expulsion from the party and her failure to challenge the move using proper channels of the opposition party once led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai.
Another matter raised in the High Court was over the authentic MDC-T constitution as the two formations produced different versions.
Khupe recently wrote a letter to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission claiming that she is the leader of the MDC-T.
Chamisa and Khupe clashed over the leadership of the opposition party soon after Tsvangirai’s death in February this year. The two claimed the presidency of the party resulting in the National Council, the highest decision-making body outside Congress, to endorse Chamisa as the legitimate leader of the MDC-T. But Khupe refused to recognize Chamisa’s leadership.