Mwonzora: a visitor who soaks his clothes to extend his unwelcome stay or a tortoise on a lamppost?
By Youngerson Matete
On the 6th of April, 2023 the constitutional court of Zimbabwe granted the chamber application by Douglas Togarasei Mwonzora “for leave for direct access to the constitutional court.” The constitutional court claimed that Mwonzora’s delimitation challenge has merit and that it must be heard by a full bench.
This comes after the MDC T leader had petitioned the constitutional court in March this year challenging the delimitation processes which was conducted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. Mwonzora is seeking an order to declare the delimitation report prepared by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and gazetted by the President on the 20th of February 2023 null and void on the grounds that it did not comply with the requirements of Section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. (Douglas T Mwonzora & Movement for Democratic Change t vs. Zimbabwe Electoral Commission & 3 others, CCZ /23)
Mwonzora, in his application, is seeking relief for the first responded (the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission) to redo the delimitation exercise in line with the requirements of Section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. He further sought relief on the second responded (the President of Zimbabwe) not to proclaim the dates of the “2023” harmonized elections before first responded provides a delimitation report that complies with Section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Firstly, I would like to start by acknowledging that the issues raised in the court application by Senator Mwonzora are real issues that highlights violations of Section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. I therefore agree with the constitutional court that his application has merit and must be heard by a full bench.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission made brazen and glaring violations of the constitution and the electoral act when redrawing electoral boundaries. Take for example, the fact that the commission denied all political stakeholders access to the voters roll that is auditable and verifiable in terms of section 21(3) of the electoral act that gives every Zimbabwean access to the voters roll either in electronic or hard copy as per request. The voters roll is the primary informant on delimitation as the process is based primarily on number of registered voters, so to begin with no one can independently confirm the number of registered voters that the Zimbabwe Electoral commission published hence Senator Mwonzora is right to say the commission violated the constitution in coming up with the delimitation report.
Furthermore, Section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, stipulates that when conducting delimitation, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must consider the population census, as a matter of fact the law requires the delimitation exercise to be conducted soon after the population census. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission didn’t use or consider the population census report as the Zimbabwe national statistics agency didn’t produce the final report. A delimitation process that didn’t consider population census is a violation of Section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
In addition, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission used a wrong formula in calculating the minimum and maximum number of registered voters in constituencies and wards. The commission misinterpreted Section 161 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. The commission’s (mis)interpretation was that the constitution says wards or constituencies must be +/-20% of the average number of registered voters. A formula that gives a 40% variation yet the correct interpretation is that the difference between a smaller and bigger constituency or ward must be 20% which is +/-10% of the average number of registered voters to maintain the principle of equality of voting strength.
These and many other brazen violations of the constitution and the electoral act by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission must not go unchallenged. This is why I acknowledge the merits of Senator Mwonzora’s court application. I however do not agree with some of the relief being sought by the applicant, in particular where he is seeking the postponement of the general elections. Senator Mwonzora is trying to ride on a good cause to achieve an evil outcome
Conduct and Timing of Elections in Zimbabwe
Chapter 7 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe broadly speaks about the conduct and timing of elections in Zimbabwe. The timing of elections is governed by Section 158 of the constitution of Zimbabwe which clearly stipulates that general elections must be conducted within 30 days before the expiry of the five (5) year term, which is (term) defined in section 143 of the constitution of Zimbabwe. The current term cannot go beyond 26 August 2023. Anything that goes beyond 26th of August 2023 will be illegal and illegitimate and no court can change that as the constitution is very clear that the power to govern is driven from the people and it clearly stipulates how people consent to be governed which is by elections whose time frames is clearly outlined by the same constitution.
In addition, the delimitation process cannot delay elections in Zimbabwe. Section 161(2) clearly stipulates that if the delimitation exercise is not finished 6 months before the elections. The old boundaries will be applied to conduct the general elections. The constitution does not say that elections will be postponed if delimitation process is not finished in time. If the constitutional court declares the delimitation report null and void which I pray it does as the delimitation process violated the constitution. It simply means ZEC can no longer redraw boundaries that will be applicable for 2023 elections. it cannot however grant the relief to postpone elections based on Section 161 of the Constitution as it does not guide the timing of elections in Zimbabwe.
Only an Earthquake or Disaster of Highest Proportion Can Stop Elections
Elections in Zimbabwe can only be postponed if there is disaster of highest proportion that the President declares a state of national disaster or emergency in terms of Section 86 of the constitution of Zimbabwe which set outs limitation to fundamental rights. Political rights enshrined in section 67 can be limited in case of a disaster of highest proportion. This is the only way elections can be postponed in Zimbabwe. Senator Mwonzora should wedge a war for elections to be postponed as he cannot manufacture a natural disaster.
Is ZANU-PF and Mwonzora afraid of elections
The internal fights within the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission are just a mirror of ZANU-PF internal fights which have spilled to the commission. Seven rogue commissions in January, 2023 wrote to the President asking him to set aside the then preliminary delimitation report that was presented to him by Justice Chigumba on December 26, 2022. They claimed it was a product of two people.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission defied the recommendations of both parliament and the President. They went on to submit a final delimitation report with minor changes. The President tried to armtwist the commission to make changes but to no avail that the President had to gazette the delimitation report outside the time frame set in section 161 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.
The strength and courage to resist the pressure from the President by Justice Chigumba could only be based on political backing from high political office. If she defied the President, where else could she get her political backing from? We can only speculate for now. Although the constitution gives the commission autonomous power, it is well known that ZANU-PF doesn't respect both the constitution and institutions. Therefore the split in ZEC is another indicator that a certain faction within ZANU-PF may not be comfortable going to elections with the current team of commissioners at ZEC. There want more time to make changes.
Furthermore, ZANU-PF knows they have mismanaged the economy. 20 hour loadsheddings, poor healthcare system, erosion of salaries, high cost of living and poor service delivery across sectors. ZANU-PF fears a repeat of 2008, that is why they are stretching their hands to Chamisa to form a government of national unity. If one rewinds back to the speech of Chief Charumbira in Masvingo at the funeral of the mother of mayor Mafume. Chief Charumbira is a known staunch ED ally who even defied the high court order to declare his unwavering support to the ZANU-PF party and President.
Chief Charumbira clearly said elections are not necessary instead he proposed that Nelson Chamisa and Emmerson Mnangagwa should sit down and talk as brothers. Going even further to propose that they will find ways to accommodate each other in the government. He even used a tribal card in his speach as he tried to convince Chamisa. One would be naive to think that Chief Charumbira's speech was of his on mind.This was a message that Chief Charumbira was sent to deliver from number 1 chancellor avenue, Harare.
The court petition by Senator Mwonzora is another option by a certain ZANU-PF faction to postpone elections. The ZANU-PF primary elections where a lot if big wigs lost is another example that all is not well within the ruling party. If you analyse the figures of the people who turn up to vote in the primary elections it reveals one thing, ZANU-PF's support base is fed up. Most constituencies, if you properly analyse the figures you can see that the constitituencies are now for the opposition to loose. If you are not sure of victory in politics why go to the polls? Find someone who is also sure of defeat to try and postpone elections. Who could be that person except Mwonzora.
In conclusion, whilst Senator Mwonzora in his court application raises glaring and brazen violations of the constitution by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission durig the delimitation process, the relief that he is seeking is mischievous. This has led many people to believe that perhaps Mr Mwonzora is a tortoise on a lamp post. Many people are quick to answer that it is ZANU-PF who have placed the tortoise on the lamppost as some believe that the ruling party is afraid of elections because of how they have managed the economy.
Some would say, Senator Mwonzora is a visitor who soaks his clothes to extend his unwelcome stay. Many will remember that one unwelcome uncle or aunty who when they visit will want to stay so long that they will do all tricks to extend their stay including soaking their clothes on the day they are scheduled to leave. This is akin to Senator Mwonzora who knows that his unwelcome stay in parliament is almost over. He launched a court application to postpone elections knowing that this will prolong his stay in parliament as he knows that he will not get anything in elections. Either Senator Mwonzora is a tortoise on a lamppost or a visitor who soaks his clothes to extend his unwelcome stay and or both.
Youngerson Matete is a pro-democracy and Human Rights activist, a student of Political Science. He is the founder of Project Vote 263, a youth-led initiative to foster inclusive participatory democracy in Zimbabwe. He writes in his own capacity. His views doesn't not represents any organisation.
Cell : +263 773 622 044
Email: youngmatete0@gmail.com/ director@projectvote263.org.zw
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