Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. On August 3, 2023, the Supreme Court overturned the High Court’s ruling and cleared 12 Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) parliamentary candidates to contest in the upcoming 2023 elections. Prior to the ruling, there was widespread speculation and debate about the judiciary’s impartiality and political bias, with some suggesting that the ruling ZANU PF party had undue influence over the courts and the executive branch of government.
Now that the ruling has been issued, reactions have been mixed, with some celebrating the decision as a victory for democracy and justice, while others caution against premature celebration and warn that the ruling could be used to bolster ZANU PF’s claims of a fair and free election. Pindula News presents some of the reactions below.
ZANU PF expressed disappointment on Twitter over the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the nullification of the nominations of the CCC parliamentary candidates. However, the party stated that they respect the court’s decision and that their government upholds the rule of law. Read the party’s posts:
It’s a disappointing court outcome !!
What’s now clear is that:
eZEC sided with CCC on this case.
Now the Courts have sided with CCC again.
We are a political party which respects court judgements.
Nothing changes, we will defeat the 12 CCC candidates in Bulawayo.
Our courts are not captured. ZANU PF govt respects the rule of law, today’s Supreme Court judgement in favour of CCC is proof that our courts are not captured.
According to Information Secretary Nick Mangwana, the Supreme Court’s decision shows that Zimbabwe’s judiciary is professional and impartial. He said:
We have a very professional and impartial Judiciary. We unfortunately also have those who believe they should never lose a case, even if the case is a dud. When they lose they scream “captured”. Same for elections. We have those who always scream, “rigged” when they lose. You can’t blame the referee every time you don’t win.
Award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’ono cautioned the CCC against premature celebration, warning that ZANU PF may use the Supreme Court’s decision to their advantage in the future. Chin’ono suggested that ZANU PF is using the ruling to position the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) as a fair referee in their narrative to the world. He argued:
The Zimbabwean opposition should not celebrate anything from the court judgement, they should only breath a sigh of relief.
The tweet below from a ZANUPF handle shows you what this is about, ZANUPF is saying the courts are not captured, and this has positioned @ZECzim as a fair referee in ZANUPF’s narrative to the world since the opposition got a favourable affidavit from @ZECzim
President Mnangagwa and ZANUPF didn’t need these 12 seats, because there was never 12 seats uncontested, only 3 were uncontested, the others would have been contested by the likes of ZAPU.
So in the eyes of ZANUPF this process has cleansed the courts and @ZECzim
When the inevitable Presidential result dispute and battle takes center stage, this case will be used and referred to ad nauseam as an example that the process was fair.
They will say; “…the same court delivered judgement in your favor last month, the same @ZECzim
sided with you on the Bulawayo 12.” There is a word for it, it is called choreography!
Celebration is missing the point!
Brighton Mutebuka disagreed with Hopewell Chin’ono, saying that the CCC and Nelson Chamisa should quietly celebrate that they are back on the ballot, despite knowing that the courts are captured. He criticized the unjust and unfounded criticism that was given as the reason for the disqualification of the CCC candidates and argued that such an approach helped the regime to escape censure while piling up pressure on the opposition. Mutebuka emphasized the need for solidarity among the opposition, which is badly beleaguered.
Former Information Minister, Professor Jonathan Moyo has congratulated the CCC candidates. He also congratulated Professor Welshman Ncube for the legal fight he put up. Moyo expressed concern over the unprecedented high number of court battles over disputes arising from the outcome of the Nomination Court on 21 June 2023 saying they have put the integrity of the 2023 harmonised general election itself into serious question. He said:
… Meanwhile, the message and the truth that justice denied is justice delayed, remain. On this score, the 2023 election has made history for the wrong reasons. It’s a notorious fact that the unprecedented high number of court battles over disputes arising from the outcome of the Nomination Court on 21 June 2023 have not only taken too long to resolve, but with only 20 days to go before polling day, the long delay has also put the integrity of the 2023 harmonised general election itself into serious question, with postal voting now in clear and present jeopardy. All nominated candidates gazetted by @ZECzim on 30 June 2023 should have been allowed to get on with it from the date of the Government Gazette. Today’s Supreme Court decision no doubt makes this point and its ramifications more sharply,and its consequences invite urgent and very troubling questions about the justice or injustice of the decision of the same Supreme Court on the Saviour Kasukuwere’s case, only last week. Not only is justice delayed justice denied, but justice must not only be done, it must also be seen to be done. Today’s Supreme Court decision for which CCC and other parliamentary candidates in Bulawayo who won it deserve their celebrations and are to be congratulated without any reservations, does nevertheless leave uncomfortable and unsettling thoughts about the justice or injustice of the Kasukuwere case. It is for this troubling situation that the Constitutional Court has its work cut out, not least because section 23(3) of the Electoral Act, upon which the Kasukuwere case was decided is manifestly unconstitutional, particularly but not only in terms of sections 66 and 67 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, regarding the right to freedom of movement and residence, and the right to vote; which are both historic gains of the liberation struggle whose heroes Zimbabweans are commemorating this month, and on which a general election is taking place for the first time since independence in 1980!
CCC national spokesperson, Fadzayi Mahere, said there is nothing to celebrate adding that the candidates must have never been removed from the ballot in the first place. The legal expert said:
We won’t stop demanding democracy #ForEveryone. The people of Bulawayo must never be deprived of the right to choose their leaders. We reject the imposition of Zanu PF in Bulawayo Province. We don’t celebrate because they should never have been removed in the first place!
While some have celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the nullification of the nominations of the CCC parliamentary candidates, others have highlighted the ongoing incarceration of CCC’s MP for Zengeza West, Job Sikhala, and Transform Zimbabwe leader, Jacob Ngarivhume, as a sign that the judiciary is captured. Despite the court’s ruling, some believe that the continued detention of Sikhala and Ngarivhume, without trial for over a year, undermines the credibility of the judiciary and the electoral process. The detention of these political leaders has been a subject of controversy, with some alleging that it is politically motivated.
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