‘Mnangagwa has no authority to proclaim election dates’

A little known opposition party called the Complete Knockdown of the Establishment which is led by Gastaff Kativu has gone to court to bar President Emmerson Mnangagwa from proclaiming elections because he has no authority to do so.

The party says the office of president in Zimbabwe is currently vacant because Mnangagwa came to power through a military coup which was a breach of the country’s constitution.

It also challenges the appointment of Priscillah Chigumba as Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chair because this was done by an appointing authority that had no mandate to do so.

According to the Daily News, Kativu has cited the ZEC and the Zimbabwe Defence Forces as the respondents. They have not yet responded to the application.

Two other opposition parties, the Zimbabwe Development Party led by Kisinoti Mukwazhi and the Voice of the People led by Moreprecision Muzadzi have gone to court to stop Mnangagwa from proclaiming elections until the Political Parties Finance Act is amended to force the government to fund all political parties in the country.

There are now 118 registered political parties in Zimbabwe.

The two argue that the coming elections will never be free, fair and credible unless all political parties receive campaign funds from the government.

Presently only parties which got more than 5 percent of the vote in the last elections are entitled to funding.

The Constitutional Court reserved judgment in their case.

Observers say the cases are not likely to succeed because Mnangagwa was sworn in by the current Chief Justice Luke Malaba.

Zimbabwe is expected to hold elections between 21 July and 21 August.

Mnangagwa should announce election dates by the end of this month or at the latest by 8 July.