CARMEL RICKARD: The spectacularly unsuccessful case against Mugabe’s resignation
A Zimbabwean case unwittingly closed the door on future judicial challenges to Robert Mugabe’s departure from the presidency
In the run-up to next week’s elections Zimbabwe’s judges have worked overtime, finalising cases related to the polls. Some were significant, like an unsuccessful attempt to allow votes to be cast outside Zimbabwe. None, however, has been as strange as the case launched by the Liberal Democrats (Zimbabwe), its leader Vusumuzi Sibanda, and others, against the country’s president, the vice-president, the defence force, the speaker of the National Assembly and the former president, Robert Mugabe. As Sibanda’s party wanted direct access to the Constitutional Court, rather than taking the normal route, it had to make a special application, heard by the chief justice, Luke Malaba, in chambers. Two months ago, between lodging the papers and the hearing, one of the applicants made what Malaba described as "serious allegations of improper conduct" against court staff, claiming these officials had "colluded with state security agents" and "caused the papers relating to the case to disappear". ...
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