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Judgment No. CCZ 3/18
Constitutional Application No. CCZ 15/18
BACKGROUND FACTS
The applicants participated in the 2013 harmonised general elections. They are eager to
participate in the 2018 harmonised elections. The relief sought in the main application is an
order barring the President of Zimbabwe from proclaiming the call and the setting of the dates
for the forthcoming harmonised general elections until the Political Parties (Finance) Act
[Chapter 2:11] (“the Act”) is repealed.
The applicants take the view that the Act is ultra vires the Constitution. The reason
given for the alleged invalidity is that the Act does not protect small political parties. From the
papers, it appears that the applicants are unhappy with s 3(3) of the Act. The papers do not
specifically say so. The applicants allege in a vague manner that the Act is in contravention of
s 67(4) of the Constitution. The section provides:
“For the purpose of promoting multi-party democracy, an Act of Parliament
must provide for the funding of political parties.”
The applicants contend that they have not been allocated funding in terms of the Act,
despite having participated in the 2013 harmonised general elections. They interpret the
provisions of s 67(4) of the Constitution to mean that an Act of Parliament referred to must
ensure that funding is made available to every political party registered to participate in a
general election.
In addition, the applicants contend that the President has an obligation to uphold the
Constitution. In their view, the obligation entails the President using his influence over the
ruling party, which has the majority of seats in Parliament, to ensure that legislation providing
for the funding of every political party participating in a general election is enacted. The