Henrietta Rushwaya has lost the presidency of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) after the High Court declared the results and proceedings of the elections which brought her to the helm invalid.
The former ZIFA CEO was elected ZMF president on June 14 last year, but her election was challenged by a group of miners under the banner Zvishavane-Mberengwa Miners’ Association (ZMMA).
The group filed a lawsuit seeking an order to order barring the holding of the elections and to have them indefinitely postponed, arguing that Rushwaya wanted to take the leadership by unconstitutional means.
The elections went ahead and Rushwaya won.
However, in her ruling, Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo on March 26 said:
The problem with authority is that nowhere in the constitution is a chief executive given authority to institute or defend legal process on behalf of the organisation.
This court can’t they encourage organisations to breach their own constitutions and do as they please. That’s unlawful and this court can’t lend a hand to or allow unlawfulness to prevail.
It’s for these reasons that I hold the notice of opposition and the opposing affidavit as not properly before the court, as they have been brought through the back door and not in accordance with respondents’ own constitution.
As a result, I will proceed to confirm the provisional order which, in my view, stands unopposed.
