Rushwaya faces another court challenge over ZMF presidency
Henrietta Rushwaya the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) president(and her Executive) is facing another court challenge after the Zvishavane-Mberengwa Mining Association (ZMMA) filed an urgent chamber application seeking to bar her from representing the interests ZMF.
This was after she had appealed to the Supreme Court against a recent High Court order which stripped her of the presidency of the small-scale miners’ body.
ZMMA wants an interdict barring her from acting as the ZMF president until finalisation of her appeal by the highest court.
She was elected ZMF president in June last year, but a group of small-scale miners under the ZMMA challenged her election.
In a case filed at the High Court in Bulawayo under case number 1652/18, the miners accused Rushwaya of using “unorthodox” means to take over the ZMF leadership.
Justice Nokuthula Moyo granted the order in favour of ZMMA. Rushwaya, however, appealed the judgment arguing that Justice Moyo erred at law and grossly misdirected herself on the issue of locus standi in failing to find and discounting that the deponents to the appellant’s founding papers were properly before the Court.
ZMMA on April 16 filed an urgent chamber application seeking to bar her from representing the interests of ZMF president until finalisation of her appeal.
In a founding affidavit, Thembinkosi Sibanda, on behalf of ZMMA, filed by their lawyer, Mutuso, Taruvinga and Mhiribidi Attorneys, said they had gathered that Rushwaya was representing ZMF at the just ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.
Southern Eye could not immediately verify the veracity of the allegations.
The matter had been set down last week on Thursday with Justice Maxwell Takuva, but was postponed.
“It has come to my knowledge that the respondent, on the 14th instant, officialised the national executive, which was allegedly nominated and appointed on the 14th of June to represent Respondent in the upcoming national events to be held at the ZITF, between April 22 to 27. This national executive is led by Henrietta Rushwaya and Wellington Takavarsha,” said Sibanda.
Justice Moyo, in her ruling said: “The court, being a court of law, cannot embrace a willy-nilly departure from one’s constitutional dictates. Not only is adherence to one’s constitution good for law and order, but it is also a good corporate governance principle.
“The reason why there is a constitution in the first place is so that the association or organisation operates within the confines of good order to avoid chaos.”
She said the court could not encourage organisations to breach their own constitutions and do as they wished, and thus the court could not lend a hand to allow an illegality to prevail._NewsDay