Chamisa not going to court

MDC Alliance president, Nelson Chamisa, said they will not waste their time by taking their grievances to courts, alleging such a move was unnecessary since the Judiciary was compromised.

This was after President Emmerson Mnangagwa had told his supporters in Mutare on Friday that those aggrieved with how the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) was managing the forthcoming polls should approach the courts for redress.

This also comes after the Judiciary threw out an appeal for the nullification of the postal votes for members of the police in the latest of court decisions to go against the opposition parties.

Addressing hundreds of his supporters at White City Stadium here on Saturday, Chamisa said it was futile to approach the courts as they were not dull.

"Our courts must be sanctuaries of justice, must be citadels of justice," Chamisa said.

"It is very important for our courts to be independent; they must not be an extension of any political party. Now, we hear Mnangagwa saying we must approach the courts if we have any grievances. I am not going to court, I am not that dull.

"We will go to the people; we will go to the court of public opinion. Let the people decide. We are not joking. We insist, and what we used to do at university, we will this time do it 10 times. We don't want any nonsense, we want proper elections," he thundered.

The youthful presidential candidate whose support was boosted by the presence of Zapu president Dumiso Dabengwa said the MDC Alliance was not going to relent on its push to have Zec accede to their demands.

He revealed that the MDC Alliance was scheduled to have a meeting with Zec tomorrow (Tuesday), just a day before the coalition of eight political parties unleashes its members to lay all night vigils at the commission's offices countrywide in its last attempt to force the elections management body to agree to their demands.

"We want a ballot paper that is genuine, we don't want a ballot which is fake, we don't want a ghost ballot and we will not accept what they did to the late Morgan Tsvangirai," he said.

"The least we are prepared to do and accept is to be allowed to test the ballot paper - batch by batch. It is our constitutional right (to do so) and we are not going back on that. On Tuesday we have a very important meeting with Zec where we hope to reach a compromise or agreement, but rest assured that we will not accept any nonsense. We are very clear on that," said Chamisa.

In spite of the disagreements, Chamisa is confident that he will emerge victorious after July 30.

"We are certainly forming the next government, in terms of opinion polls, we are also doing very well, there is no way Mnangagwa will defeat us, we are winning this election hands down. All the people I have met are saying this is the time for change and the change that is being talked about is not cosmetic but real," he said.

In a jest, Chamisa recounted the explosion at the same venue last month during a Zanu-PF star rally which left several including top government officials injured and two dead.

"…surely, why would someone want to kill my customer, who was handed to me by Mugabe? I want to defeat him cleanly," he said amid cheers from the crowd.

Speaking at the same event, MDC Alliance spokesperson Welshman Ncube also took aim at Zec.

"There is only one thing that wants to disturb our second independence. There are those that we gave a task and mandate to be a referee in the upcoming elections…they are the biggest national threat today, the challenge to our national security today, the biggest obstacle to a new Zimbabwe is Zec, but this time around, we will not allow Zec to steal our vote," Ncube said.