By Dr Takavafira Zhou.
Since the filing of our case over the rigging of recent harmonised elections by Zec and Zanu pf, several armchair theorists, MDC analysts, Mnangagwaits, Chiwengarists, and lawyers of different persuasions have given different opinions at different times. What has emerged from conservatists Mnangagwaits and Chiwengarists is that our petition was, interalia:
1. Filed outside the mandatory 7 days
2. Served at wrong address and therefore Mnangagwa refused to sign it.
3. Would be dismissed as it had too many errors.
4. Out of order as it targeted chairperson of Zec as an individual and not Zec as an institution
5. Inappropriate in siting Mnangagwa as a respondent as he was not in charge of the election process
It is important to note that the allegstions are blatantly unfounded, palpably unjust, frivolous and vexatious. There would be thousands of other opinions, legal and non-legal over our court case. However, opinions are not necessarily right and will remain at best speculative and at worst vogue, vacuous and mere wishful thinking that must be dismissed with the greatest contempt they deserve.
Fundamentally, our court papers were served in time ( and for the avoidance of doubt on the 5th day as requisite 7 days exclude weekends and holidays). Above, all the respondents (particularly Mnangagwa and Zec) were served with the papers as per stipulated modus operandi. That Zec and Zanu pf are two sides of the same coin used in rigging elections is indisputable and no amount of disinformation and misinformation can dismiss the romance between Zec and Zanu pf, let alone the illegitimate child born out of that romance in terms of fraudulent election results. Numbers certainly do not lie and our court evidence is largely based on 700 000 votes fraudulently stolen from Chamisa and rewarded to Mnangagwa. However, it is noteworthy that since we have filed our court challenge, lets leave the primary work of defending people’s votes to our leaders, lawyers, and judges. All the same we will continue to explore other avenues to ensure that justice is judiciously made. It is our hope that the judges entrusted in making a decision will judiciously deliver a credible judgement for the benefit of our generation and future generations’ quest for democracy and egalitarianism.
We appeal to party activists to be patient during the protracted period of our court challenge as the wheels of justice turn slowly abd judgement is likely to be passed by the end of August or first week of September. As MDC-Alliance leaders and members we are certainly on course and making history. Many Zanu pf supporters may blame us it doesn’t matter, history will absolve us. The cause of liberty will not be surrendered even at the last moment of possible defeat. We will remain vigilant and resilient every time. The blood of our freedom fighters will continue to water our spirit of liberty, while our departed icon leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, will continue to provide a blue print for our democratic struggles. Not only has he defined our destination, but he has also chosen the direction and actual path to reach that destination. As social democrats we have chosen the path of changing government through the ballot box and not the bullet. It is for this reason that we are defending people’s votes through peaceful means and have rejected the road to violence, thuggery and thievery to which our competitors are addicted. As such, while we cannot stop mouths from opening and churning of acidic, arid and rigid epistles, lets remain focused snd hopeful that the courts will deliver a just ruling at an opportune time.
Venceremos
Midlands South Secretary for Elections
Dr Takavafira M. Zhou
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