Prof Jonathan Moyo withdraws election petition

THE Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has withdrawn petitions against eight of the respondents he had cited in the case seeking a nullification of the election results for Tsholotsho North constituency.

Prof Moyo, who is being represented by Mr Job Sibanda of Job Sibanda and Associates, contested for the seat against three other candidates who included MDC-T's Mrs Roseline Sipepa Nkomo who was declared the winner.

Prof Moyo had cited the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) as the first respondent while its chairperson Justice Rita Makarau was second.

Other respondents were the chief elections officer Mr Lovemore Sekeramayi (3rd), Mr Ewan Zelebu Dube the District Elections Officer for Tsholotsho (4th), Ms Sibongile Sayi, the Constituency Elections Officer (5th) and the Provincial Elections Officer for Matabeleland North Mr Mark Ndlovu (6th).

The Registrar General, Mr Tobaiwa Mudede and Tsholotsho District Registrar of voters Ms Gertrude Thandiwe Mlotshwa were cited as the 7th and 8th respondents while Mrs Sipepa-Nkomo is the 9th.

The notice of withdrawal was reportedly filed last week on Thursday at the Electoral Court in Bulawayo seeking to remove respondents one to eight.

The petition remains against Mrs Sipepa-Nkomo only and it is still pending at the Electoral Court in Bulawayo. According to Mr Sibanda, there were no reasons in the withdrawal notice filed by his client.

Soon after the election results were announced, Prof Moyo lodged a complaint to Zec seeking a  recount of the votes, citing numerous anomalies in the process.

He then filed a petition at the Electoral Court in Bulawayo seeking a nullification of the election and an order for fresh elections in the constituency.

The petition was done in terms of Section 168 of the Electoral Act. According to affidavits by Prof Moyo's polling agents which are attached to the petition, some presiding officers allegedly conducted the counting process in the absence of the polling agents.

In his founding affidavit, Prof Moyo said there were a lot of irregularities in wards one to nine and ward 21 and therefore sought a nullification or a re-run within 90 days from the day of determination by the Electoral Court.

He said when counting started, his election agent, Mr Vincent Moyo and more than 225 Zanu-PF polling agents reported incidents of inconsistencies, which compromised its authenticity.

Prof Moyo said at Manjelegwa Tent Polling Station the presiding officer, Mr Irvine Nkomo arrived at Kapane Primary School collation centre without V11 forms and alleged that he had wrongfully put them in one of the ballot boxes.

He said the ballot box was opened without a court order while at Mazwi Tent in the same ward polling officers openly undercounted votes that were in his favour.

Prof Moyo also wants the court to determine how 318 voters were rejected. He also challenges the misplacement and non-counting of special votes which he said were allegedly sent to Tsholotsho South constituency and treated as spoilt votes, adding that the whereabouts of these special votes "remains a mystery".

Prof Moyo complained about the state of the voters' roll in Ward 21 and called for preparation of a proper voters' roll. He argues that declaring Mrs Sipepa-Nkomo the winning candidate was "improper and irregular."