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Constitutional Court declares Mugabe winner
21 Aug 2013 at 03:11hrs | Views
The Constitutional Court yesterday declared President Mugabe as the legitimate winner of the 31 July presidential election and ruled that the poll was free, fair and credible.
The court's decision paves way for President Mugabe's inauguration tomorrow. Dismissing the presidential election petition by MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, Chief Justice Chidyausiku found that the result of the election was a true reflection of the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
"The Constitutional Court, in terms of Section 93 (3) and (4) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, makes the following determination and declarature:
1 That the Zimbabwe Presidential election held on July 31 2013 was in accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe and in particular with the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Electoral Act.
2 That the said election was free, fair and credible. Consequently, the result of that election is a true reflection of the free will of the people of Zimbabwe who voted.
3 That Robert Gabriel Mugabe was duly elected President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and is hereby declared the winner of the said election.
"Reasons for the judgment will be given in due course", read the order.
Advocate Deepak Mehta appeared for Mr Tsvangirai while Mr Terence Hussein and Advocate Fred Gijima represented President Mugabe.
Mr Tawanda Kanengoni and Mr Charles Nyika represented the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission while Advocate Farai Mutamangira acted for the Attorney General.
Mr Tsvangirai filed his petition in terms of Section 93(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe challenging the validity of the election of the President.
He was seeking nullification of the presidential election as well as a fresh election within 60 days.
President Mugabe was on 3 August declared duly elected by ZEC after winning 61,09 percent of the presidential vote, with Mr Tsvangirai trailing at 33,94 percent while the other three contestants shared the remaining 4,97 percent.
Mr Tsvangirai alleged vote-rigging, electoral bribery, abuse of the special voting system, intimidation of voters and misuse of voter registration slips among other issues as the basis for the petition.
The petition came at a time when many African countries were congratulating President Mugabe on his re-election with a record number of foreign delegations expressing interest in attending President Mugabe's inauguration
President Mugabe, the Zec, Zec chairperson Justice Rita Makarau and Zec chief elections officer Mr Lovemore Sekeramayi were cited as respondents in the petition that was filed a day before the expiry of the seven-day period in which disgruntled candidates are allowed to file petitions.
In the petition, Mr Tsvangirai submitted that the first respondent (President Mugabe) was not duly elected owing to the "numerous corrupt and illegal practices and other electoral malpractices and irregularities".
He also sought to have the election set aside on the basis Zec failed to discharge its constitutional obligation to manage and supervise the conduct of credible, efficient, transparent, free and fair elections as it is obliged in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Electoral Act.
The closure of registration when many people were still in queues, according to Mr Tsvangirai, was in violation of the constitution.
Zec, the MDC-T leader argued, failed or refused to avail the voters' roll to candidates in searchable and analysable form thereby breaching the Electoral Act.
He also claimed there was duplication of names on the voters' roll and that people were intimidated and subsequently voted under duress.
Turning away of voters at polling stations was another ground on which Mr Tsvangirai based his petition, adding that it had an effect of damaging the credibility of the voting process and the results.
Mr Tsvangirai argued that a fake voter registration slip scandal was unearthed in Hatfield where 500 people were found in possession of bogus slips.
He also alleged lack of transparency regarding the company that printed the ballot papers and the number of ballot papers printed for special voting.
The court's decision paves way for President Mugabe's inauguration tomorrow. Dismissing the presidential election petition by MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, Chief Justice Chidyausiku found that the result of the election was a true reflection of the will of the people of Zimbabwe.
"The Constitutional Court, in terms of Section 93 (3) and (4) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, makes the following determination and declarature:
1 That the Zimbabwe Presidential election held on July 31 2013 was in accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe and in particular with the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Electoral Act.
2 That the said election was free, fair and credible. Consequently, the result of that election is a true reflection of the free will of the people of Zimbabwe who voted.
3 That Robert Gabriel Mugabe was duly elected President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and is hereby declared the winner of the said election.
"Reasons for the judgment will be given in due course", read the order.
Advocate Deepak Mehta appeared for Mr Tsvangirai while Mr Terence Hussein and Advocate Fred Gijima represented President Mugabe.
Mr Tawanda Kanengoni and Mr Charles Nyika represented the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission while Advocate Farai Mutamangira acted for the Attorney General.
Mr Tsvangirai filed his petition in terms of Section 93(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe challenging the validity of the election of the President.
He was seeking nullification of the presidential election as well as a fresh election within 60 days.
Mr Tsvangirai alleged vote-rigging, electoral bribery, abuse of the special voting system, intimidation of voters and misuse of voter registration slips among other issues as the basis for the petition.
The petition came at a time when many African countries were congratulating President Mugabe on his re-election with a record number of foreign delegations expressing interest in attending President Mugabe's inauguration
President Mugabe, the Zec, Zec chairperson Justice Rita Makarau and Zec chief elections officer Mr Lovemore Sekeramayi were cited as respondents in the petition that was filed a day before the expiry of the seven-day period in which disgruntled candidates are allowed to file petitions.
In the petition, Mr Tsvangirai submitted that the first respondent (President Mugabe) was not duly elected owing to the "numerous corrupt and illegal practices and other electoral malpractices and irregularities".
He also sought to have the election set aside on the basis Zec failed to discharge its constitutional obligation to manage and supervise the conduct of credible, efficient, transparent, free and fair elections as it is obliged in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Electoral Act.
The closure of registration when many people were still in queues, according to Mr Tsvangirai, was in violation of the constitution.
Zec, the MDC-T leader argued, failed or refused to avail the voters' roll to candidates in searchable and analysable form thereby breaching the Electoral Act.
He also claimed there was duplication of names on the voters' roll and that people were intimidated and subsequently voted under duress.
Turning away of voters at polling stations was another ground on which Mr Tsvangirai based his petition, adding that it had an effect of damaging the credibility of the voting process and the results.
Mr Tsvangirai argued that a fake voter registration slip scandal was unearthed in Hatfield where 500 people were found in possession of bogus slips.
He also alleged lack of transparency regarding the company that printed the ballot papers and the number of ballot papers printed for special voting.
Source - Zimpapers
