Supreme court hears Tsvangirai petition

By Lance Guma
17 November 2005

The full bench of the Supreme Court, sitting as a constitutional court, sat down to hear an application by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Thursday. Tsvangirai is challenging Robert Mugabe’s disputed presidential election victory in the March 2002 poll. High Court Judge Ben Hlatshwayo dismissed the case last year but did not give any reasons for doing so. Lawyers for the opposition argued that this has denied the opposition a chance to appeal the matter as the basis for doing so becomes difficult without reasons from the judge on his decision.

The matter has once again exposed the judiciary for working in cahoots with the regime. Any appeal to a decision has to be lodged within 15 days but because Justice Hlatshwayo has still not supplied his judgment the opposition cannot lodge an appeal on the actual case. They came to the Supreme Court seeking remedy on Justice Hlatshwayo’s apparent neglect of duty. Although lawyers are trying to get the Supreme Court to hear the full case its reported other judges like Justice Luke Malaba have said they have no jurisdiction to hear the full case and can only deal with an appeal.

Behind the technical jargon is clear evidence that the courts have been playing games with the opposition for 4 years on the matter. Tsvangirai’s spokesman William Bango expressed disillusionment with the whole process saying it was designed to protect Mugabe. If Mugabe’s victory were to be nullified, all the decisions he has made in that capacity would be null and void and the judiciary does not seem to have the stomach to make such decisions, Bango said. The Supreme Court has said it will rule on the application but gave no date for the judgment.