By Anna Chibamu
THE opposition MDC Alliance has angrily rejected Friday’s Constitutional Court ruling which upheld President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s narrow and disputed election win.
In a shift from an earlier position, the party issued a statement Friday evening saying the court ruling entrenches “an illegitimate regime.”
An initial statement had indicated that the opposition coalition would respect the unanimous ruling by the constitutional court.
The second statement issued by alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s spokesman made clear that, “while we respect the Court, we don’t accept its manifestly unjust decision”.
“MDC Alliance notes with grave concern and rejects (Friday’s) evidently captured decision of the Constitutional Court to endorse a patently sham election and to entrench an illegitimate regime that used brazen subterfuge and brutal violence to steal the people’s vote,” reads the statement.
“In this vein, it is impossible for rational people who are law abiding citizens in a modern, constitutional democracy such as ours; to accept an irrational and unjust decision by a constitutional body that lacks requisite independence, impartiality and transparency.
“Our message to Mr. Mnangagwa is clear: You can rig the elections. You can capture ZEC. You can capture judiciary. But you will never capture the people. Their will shall prevail. The people shall govern!
“We will not congratulate criminals who are way past their sell-by date, nor will we accept that they have won anything. The truth cannot be set aside for the purposes of the convenience of power grabbers.”
The opposition coalition accused Chief Justice Luke Malaba of failing to ensure a fair hearing when the court case started Wednesday.
“Although our respect for the Constitutional Court restrained us, it was clear from the beginning that Chief Justice Luke Malaba had no interest in affording our President, Advocate Nelson Chamisa, a fair hearing.
“Justice Malaba’s approach was to find a window for Emmerson Mnangagwa to escape justice.”
According to the coalition, Malaba refused an application to subpoena servers of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) without any legal basis.
“Harassment of our legal representative, interjecting over a dozen times, while allowing the legal representatives of (Mnangagwa and ZEC) to present their arguments without interruption was also mentioned.”
The alliance said it would announce a vigorous programme of action in response to what it called an electoral theft of the century.
“We are going to show Mr. Mnangagwa and the world that the peaceful masses have rejected him. They will never accept him.”
