News / Local
Zimbabwe presidential election bombshell
22 Aug 2023 at 19:24hrs | Views
A Bulawayo-based lawyers human rights organisation, Abammeli, and local attorney Nqobani Sithole have filed an urgent High Court application seeking an order for a compelling interdict against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) not to run tomorrow's presidential election unconstitutionally and illegally as they did in the 2013 and 2018 presidential polls.
Zec ran the 2013 and 2018 presidential elections unconstitutionally and illegally in violation of the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act on the transmission and collation of the results of the polls using unlawful routes and destinations in the process.
Section 37C(4) provides for the peremptory process for the transmission and collation of the result for a presidential election.
The prescribed and mandatory transmission of the results for the presidential election to and between the five prescribed electoral centres starts from (a) polling station, to (b) ward collation centre, to (c)constituency collation centre, to (d) provincial command centre and finally to (e) national command centre.
Zec did not follow this legal route during the 2013 and 2018 presidential elections, hence the illegality.
Instead of following the legally prescribed route, Zec diverted the results from ward collation centres straight to the national command centre, an egregious and scandalous violation of the constitution and the law.
This illegal conduct by Zec compromised the integrity, fairness and credibility of the results by breaking the chain of command and custody in the electoral process regarding the verification and auditability of the elections outcome.
The applicants are Abammeli and Sithole.
The respondents are Zec, its chairperson Priscilla Chigumba and chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana.
Abammeli and Sithole say they filed their urgent application at the eleventh hour because they only became aware of the Zec illegalities in the 2103 and 2018 presidential elections during this past weekend after reading a 2019 elections monograph, Excelgate: How Zimbabwe's 2018 Presidential Election was Stolen, by Professor Jonathan Moyo.
As a result, the applicants want an interdict and order mandamus against Zec, directing that:
"In respect of all future presidential elections, starting with the harmonised general election scheduled for 23 August 2023 (tomorrow), 1st respondent (Zec) shall transmit and collate the results for the presidential election by strictly following and adhering to the peremproty provisions of sections 37C(4), 64, 65, 65A, 65B and 110(3) of the Electoral Act.
"Any future presidential election in which 1st Respondent transmits and collates its results using different routes and destination that do not strictly comply with the peremptory provisions of sections 37C(4), 64, 65, 65A, 65B and 110(3) of the Electoral Act shall not be a valid election."
Zec ran the 2013 and 2018 presidential elections unconstitutionally and illegally in violation of the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act on the transmission and collation of the results of the polls using unlawful routes and destinations in the process.
Section 37C(4) provides for the peremptory process for the transmission and collation of the result for a presidential election.
The prescribed and mandatory transmission of the results for the presidential election to and between the five prescribed electoral centres starts from (a) polling station, to (b) ward collation centre, to (c)constituency collation centre, to (d) provincial command centre and finally to (e) national command centre.
Zec did not follow this legal route during the 2013 and 2018 presidential elections, hence the illegality.
Instead of following the legally prescribed route, Zec diverted the results from ward collation centres straight to the national command centre, an egregious and scandalous violation of the constitution and the law.
This illegal conduct by Zec compromised the integrity, fairness and credibility of the results by breaking the chain of command and custody in the electoral process regarding the verification and auditability of the elections outcome.
The applicants are Abammeli and Sithole.
The respondents are Zec, its chairperson Priscilla Chigumba and chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana.
Abammeli and Sithole say they filed their urgent application at the eleventh hour because they only became aware of the Zec illegalities in the 2103 and 2018 presidential elections during this past weekend after reading a 2019 elections monograph, Excelgate: How Zimbabwe's 2018 Presidential Election was Stolen, by Professor Jonathan Moyo.
As a result, the applicants want an interdict and order mandamus against Zec, directing that:
"In respect of all future presidential elections, starting with the harmonised general election scheduled for 23 August 2023 (tomorrow), 1st respondent (Zec) shall transmit and collate the results for the presidential election by strictly following and adhering to the peremproty provisions of sections 37C(4), 64, 65, 65A, 65B and 110(3) of the Electoral Act.
"Any future presidential election in which 1st Respondent transmits and collates its results using different routes and destination that do not strictly comply with the peremptory provisions of sections 37C(4), 64, 65, 65A, 65B and 110(3) of the Electoral Act shall not be a valid election."
Source - online
