Staff ReporterZimbabwean courts could suddenly be enjoying their independence from political influence as promised them both the military and new President Emerson Mnangagwa
High Court Judge Justice Nyaradzo Munangati-Manongwa this morning passed a landmark ruling granting an order allowing Zimbabweans classified as Aliens to go and get registered as prospective voters by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) via the ongoing Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) exercise.
The judge ordered ZEC to register the aliens as voters as long as they provided their National Identity Documents endorsed alien with a Birth Certificate and Proof of residence.
ZEC has all along been insisting on the aliens going through the Registrar General’s office first to regularise their status before being registered.
The process was taking too long at the Registry office resulting in thousands of the so called aliens quitting both the Registry and the voter registration.
This comes after Harare resident Sarah Kachingwe and the two opposition parties the MDC-T and the MDC-N, filed an application seeking an order allowing individuals classified as “aliens” to register to vote in the 2018 general elections without any impediment or additional requirement other than requirements relating to all people.
Constitutonal law expert Alex Magaisa said:
Section 43(2) of the Constitution clearly states that persons born in Zimbabwe to a parent/s from a SADC country are citizens of Zimbabwe by birth. They are NOT aliens & if they were classified as such that classification became null and void in 2013.
