The High Court has reserved judgment in the case in which
two jailed MDC activists are seeking an order compelling the Government to
allow them to vote in this month’s harmonised elections.
Tungamirai Madzokere and Last Maengahama are serving prison
terms of 20 years each at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
They were convicted in December 2016 of murdering Inspector
Petros Mutedza at Glen View 3 Shopping Centre in May 2011 together with Yvonne
Musarurwa.
Musarurwa was freed in an amnesty early this year. The trio
sued the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and the Ministry of Justice, Legal
and Parliamentary Affairs.
It is the trio’s contention that Zimbabwe is due for
general elections in a few weeks time and they are entitled to exercise their
political rights regardless of their status as detainees.
Justice Clement Phiri yesterday heard the application and
reserved his ruling after hearing submissions from all the parties’ lawyers. It
emerged during the hearing that there was no dispute that prisoners have a
right to vote.
ZEC, which was being represented by Mr Tawanda Kanengoni,
argued that prisoners’ remedy lies in lobbying Parliament, as ZEC cannot be
compelled to act in the absence of enabling legislation.
The ministry’s lawyer Ms Fortune Chimbaru argued that the
law was clear and hence no need for judicial pronouncement.
“All prisoners needed to do was to make logistical and
administrative arrangements with prison authorities,” said Ms Chimbaru.
Mr Jeremiah Bhamu of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
argued the matter for the trio.
Mr Bhamu argued that though the law was clear, the need for
judicial pronouncement arose in that for 38 years after independence nothing
has been done to facilitate voting by prisoners.
“It is, therefore, necessary to compel ZEC to put in place
measures required for prisoners to vote and in the alternative for the minister
to be compelled to sponsor legislation to make a provision for the mechanism
through which prisoners may vote,” argued Mr Bhamu.
In their application, the trio wanted the High Court to
force the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi
Ziyambi and ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba, and ZEC as the
elections management body, to register them on the national voters roll and
facilitate their voting on election day.
Their application was set down for hearing this month
although it had been filed in June 2017. Herald
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