The Con Court trivial: Zimbabwe’s presidential election court challenge stirs citizens’ interest in legal matters

Zwnews Chief Correspondent

The court recent court case between Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, and MDC-Alliance president Nelson Chamisa has stirred interest among citizens.

Since its initial hearing, the case was beamed live by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, both on television and its radio stations. The move made citizens stick to their TV and radio sets as they eagerly followed the processes.

Be that as it may, Zimbabweans have expressed reactions to the beaming live of the court proceedings, when the national broadcaster ZBC was given the green light to broadcast the court hearing on the matter.

Meanwhile, some citizens have professed their ignorance of the legal terms and jargon. A number of those who spoke to this publication welcomed the move to beam the proceedings, as a good initiative, though they said the terms used were not familiar.

“The beaming live of the court proceedings was a good thing. However, the terms used in the courts are not for the layman’s consumption, I myself heard nothing at all.

“However, the beaming of the court hearing has given me an inclination to visit the courts and get a feel of how the courts operate,” says a resident known as Jimmy.

Another resident from Chitungwiza Simbisai Choga, concurs, saying it is always helpful to visit the courts of law once in a while, adding that being well acquainted with how the courts work is important for every citizen.

“It has been said that ignorance of the law is not a form of defence. I urge other ordinary citizens like myself to regularly pay the courts a visit and see how they work,” she said.

Meanwhile, a journalism student at one of the country’s media training institutions, Tatenda Murwira, says she learnt a lot from the broadcasting of the legal battle between Chamisa and president Mnangagwa.

“The failure by some people to understand legal terms and matters has come to me as a motivation.

As a journalism student, I think it is important to understand legal matters and terms, because to be able to write a good court story, one has to be well versed in how the courts work,” she said.

She adds that the court proceedings which were beamed live has also challenged her to acquaint herself with the country’s Constitution, after noting that the whole legal jargon, like section this, section that, paragraph so and so, which many failed to comprehend were all enshrined in the supreme law.