The anxious 14 days for Zimbabwe

As the Constitutional Court Judges begin sifting through the piles of papers of affidavits, evidence and counter affidavits and counter evidence, they surely feel the weight of the hope the nation is pinning on them. The anxiety of the nation is on every citizen's face, in every conversation both in private and in public fora.

A great part of the anxiety emanates from the suspicion that the ZANU pf government will interfere with the Con Court's independence and simply direct the Judges' decision. The recent boast by the President, ED Mnangagwa that the bailing of Tendai Biti was a result of his intervention has not done much to alleviate such anxiety about possible interference. The President did not explain whether his intervention was by way of instruction to the magistrate to give Bail or by way of instruction to government not to oppose granting of Bail. Did he talk to the minister of Justice? Indeed some clarification would help in the circumstances.

It is important that citizens have confidence that the decision the Judges come up with is a well considered one which the Judges believe is in the best interest of the nation. Without such confidence, the decision could be rejected with the dreadful consequences of such rejection.

On the other hand public anxiety was raised by the MDC Alliance who have stated that although they have approached the Court, they have no faith in the Court and have an alternative plan that they will roll out if the Court's decision is not in their favour. The opposition outfit has proved that it means what it says. Right from the beginning of their election campaign, the MDC Alliance has been consistent in that it would not accept a result that was not its victory. Almost at every rally that message was hammered home to the harvest crowds. True to their word, the victory that was not of the Alliance was rejected bringing us to where we are this moment of even greater anxiety. The Alliance, through none other than its President and presidential aspirant, Advocate Nelson Chamisa, has stated in public that there is another plan that will be rolled out should the Court's decision not be in its favour. Nelson Chamisa would not divulge what that alternative plan is. When we recall his campaign pledge that he would make the country "ungovernable" if victory was not his, the spine goes cold to imagine what that plan to be rolled out is. The Con Court Judges should be worried too what that plan entails. Do such thoughts about the possible nature of that plan interfere with or influence their decision? Or should the thought of the possible consequences of that plan influence them? There is even a great temptation to ask if the whole Con Court process is not a waste of time. Why go through a process that may be regarded as irrelevant if the final decision is not binding?

This is not to suggest that disputing an election result is wrong but demanding only a particular outcome and holding everyone at ransom if that particular outcome does not obtain should not be accepted. The MDC Alliance principals should come clean on how they intend to make the country "ungovernable". Do they include in their plan the death of several people/citizens, as indeed the Hon. Tendai publicly said that they were prepared to die on the streets? Ironically when some people died on the streets, (may their blood turn into rivers of peace in our nation while they rest in eternal peace), he Hon Biti abandoned the streets to seek sanctuary in Zambia probably from where he would return to harvest power after enough numbers had perished .
When an impression is created that the lives of ordinary innocent citizens can be sacrificed for the satisfaction of individuals' egos  then there is reason to doubt the motive of the disputed election results.

If presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa has genuine claims and evidence of electoral theft/fraud, by all means he should stand up against such evil with all of us supporting him. He should however state unequivocally that he is prepared to accept an outcome that is not his victory as settlement of the dispute. Nelson Chamisa and the MDC Alliance ought to regard the security and lives of citizens as Paramount. The nation also expects the government to genuinely respect the people's will as expressed in collective decision making processes as elections. When a government or political party fails to honor and respect the will of the citizens, it provokes a situation of chaos as the people will defend their dignity.

To his credit, President Emerson Mnangagwa has since his assumption of office in November 2017, spoken well of the need to respect the rights and freedoms of citizens and it is hoped that he continues to do so even when he gets the legitimacy at the end of this democratic process. Many people suspect that he is only lying low true to his "Crocodile/ Ngwena" name he has politically come to be known by, only to show his true character once his legitimacy endorsed.

In the circumstances, while the Con court Judges begin and get on their work, all parties to the dispute should make public pronouncements that they will abide and be bound by the decision of the Court. Supporters of the various parties should also commit themselves to accept the Court's decision as final settlement even if that decision does not support one's preferred outcome.

In conclusion, I believe that a large part of the current dispute regarding the elections would not have arisen had the electoral reforms been implemented before the elections. Indeed one gets the impression that the applicant, Nelson Chamisa intends to get those reforms through the Courts rather than Parliament. May be a good strategy considering ZANU Of has two thirds majority in the coming parliament and may not have the interest of introducing reforms that will disadvantage them. We call upon the nation to unite and accept the decision of the Court as final settlement for this election and encourage the coming parliament to prioritize on the electoral reforms.
PEACE TO ZIMBABWE.