Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court (ConCourt) has granted opposition MDC leader, Senator Douglas Mwonzora’s urgent application to challenge the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) delimitation report. Mwonzora’s request for direct access to the apex court was accepted because his case was considered arguable.
A bench led by Paddington Garwe ruled that Senator Douglas Mwonzora’s delimitation challenge is valid and must be heard by a full bench. Mwonzora has called for the nullification of the ZEC delimitation report, arguing that it was not done correctly. However, ZEC has defended the report, stating that everything is in order and that redoing the report would be a waste of resources.
Representing Mwonzora, Trust Maanda argued that the Senator has an equal interest in the matter since he is running in the upcoming elections. He further stated that Mwonzora’s case should be heard as it involves the abuse of constitutional rights and that ZEC relied on a preliminary census report by Zimstat, which was incorrect. Maanda stressed that unless the delimitation report is in accordance with the constitution, it is unconstitutional.
On the other hand, Tawanda Kanengoni, speaking on behalf of ZEC, argued that there was little difference between the preliminary and final census report from Zimstat, and that Mwonzora’s application lacked clarity since he did not specify what he found discriminatory.
Meanwhile, award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’ono claims that the ruling ZANU PF party is using Mwonzora, its alleged ally, to push through its agenda of delaying the elections scheduled for later this year.
If Mwonzora wins the case, the delimitation exercise would have to be redone, which could delay the upcoming harmonized elections between July 26 and August 26 of this year.
