Advocates Dali Mpofu and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi from South
Africa — who are reportedly set to lead a legal team contesting President
Mnangagwa’s victory in the July 30 harmonised elections — cannot appear in
court to argue for MDC-Alliance without the requisite authority from the
Government.
President Mnangagwa won the elections with 50,8 percent of
the total vote cast against MDC-Alliance leader Mr Nelson Chamisa’s 44,3
percent.
The South African pair arrived yesterday and met with the
MDC-Alliance local legal ensemble fronted by Adv Thabani Mpofu.
In an interview last night, Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said it was impossible for the
South African pair to practice in “our courts without permission.”
He said by close of business yesterday, he had not received
any request from Adv Mpofu (Dali) and Ngcubkaitobi for permission to practice
in the country.
“I left my office around 1pm and had not seen an
application from them for permission to appear in our courts,” said Minister
Ziyambi.
“I am not sure if they have done so after I left the
office. They need to apply to me to consider the request and advice the Law
Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) accordingly. Suppose they want to argue this matter,
they know the procedure to follow. As it is, I do not know what their game plan
is.”
Mr Chamisa’s spokesman Dr Nkululekho Sibanda said the
question of whether Adv Mpofu (Dali) and Ngcukaitobi will argue the case or
appear in court was immaterial.
“Adv (Thabani) Mpofu is leading the team,” he said.
“Our president (Mr Chamisa) insisted that he needed extra
legal brains from the region to join the local ensemble.”
Dr Sibanda said the presence of the two lawyers from South
Africa still remained useful as Mr Chamisa sought to put together the best
legal brains to prosecute his petition.
Last week, Mr Chamisa approached the Constitutional Court
seeking to set aside President Mnangagwa victory, claiming that the official
presidential results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) were
not credible.
He cited alleged electoral fraud and malpractices during
the elections in which Zanu-PF romped to victory, claiming two-thirds
parliamentary majority, with President Mnangagwa taking a 6,5 percent lead.
Mr Chamisa wants the court to declare him the winner.
President Mnangagwa, along with 21 losing presidential
candidates and ZEC, were all cited as respondents in the high-profile petition.
In his response filed on Wednesday, President Mnangagwa
argued that there was no valid election petition before the courts challenging
his victory.
He wants the apex court to dismiss the petition and confirm
him the winner of the presidential poll held on July 30, arguing the petition
was plagued with flagrant procedural irregularities.
President Mnangagwa contends that Mr Chamisa’s petition is
premised on alleged mathematical anomalies which have no factual basis. Herald
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