Chamisa's lawyers ready to challenge Mnangagwa's narrow victory

Nelson Chamisa's lead counsel, Advocate Thabani Mpofu says the legal advisory team is now ready to challenge in the Constitutional Court (Concourt) presidential results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, but did not specify when exactly they will be approaching the courts.

At numerous other press conferences, the MDC Alliance has indicated that they have gathered enough evidence but they continue to appeal to ordinary citizens to bring forth any evidence that might assist them in their case.      

In yet another one of its now familiar press conferences, the MDC Alliance through Advocate Mpofu said it has now completed gathering information for the Concourt challenge against the presidential election outcome and they are going to approach the courts before the lapse of the seven days after declaration of results as permitted by law lapses.

Advocate Mpofu maintained that they have enough evidence and will also bring to the courts an anti-rigging mechanism that is going to prove that the results announced by ZEC do not reflect the will of the people.

"Results have now been announced and my client's view is that the results reflect a total negation of the will of the people. The anti-rigging mechanisms have taken effect and they have assisted us greatly in showing where things went wrong, establishing that there was mammoth theft and fraud, gross and crass and for that reason and taking into account that the Zimbabweans are entitled to a proper election. That evidence derives from source documents and ZEC's own figures which in our view are grossly made up and mathematically fail to tally," he said.

Advocate Mpofu said they have roped in a huge team of local, regional as well as international lawyers.

While claiming that they have enough evidence, he went on to appeal to Zimbabweans who might have evidence to approach them with the data so that they use it in court.

"I wish however not going to put a bar to any citizen who wants [to bring forward evidence] in order to show the world what really happened. But from a legal perspective from an evidentiary angle, we have what we require to mount a credible challenge," he added.

The MDC Alliance has also accused the courts of being captured and claimed that they have other means to resort to in the event that they lose the court challenge, but during the press conference, Advocate Mpofu appealed to the same courts that they have been condemning, to deliver a fair judgement.    

Advocate Mpofu went on to allege that since they made it known that they will be contesting the results, they are being harassed, threatened with arrests and even trailed by some unknown people, but he said they are not going to be intimidated.

Sounding more of a political activist than a lawyer, Advocate Mpofu said he is happy and willing to be imprisoned for the party.

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson, Mr George Charamba responded, saying lawyers file cases, they do not address press conferences.  

Other political parties and independent candidates who contested in the presidential race have since graciously accepted the election outcome.

The MDC Alliance and its legal team has been spoiling for a fight even before the polling day and has been accusing ZEC of being conflicted and favouring Zanu PF, but they have not been able to produce the evidence to prove that.