Wednesday High Court Ruling which invalidated MDC President Nelson Chamisa as the legitimate opposition leader has opened a can of worms as President Emmerson Mnangagwa and former Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko power debacle in the wake of Robert Mugabe collapse in November 2017 comes into retrospection.
United Kingdom-based renowned academic lawyer and advisor to the former Premier the late Dr Richard Morgan Tsvangirai, Alex Magaisa, has it that under the Zimbabwean constitution former Robert Mugabe’s deputy; Mphoko, should have taken over as President ahead of President Mnangagwa, who had been fired for lacking probity.
“If someone goes to court and argues that Mr Mnangagwa was illegitimately installed as President in November 2017 and that under Zimbabwe’s Constitution Mr Mphoko should have been the lawful successor in the interim, Justice Mushore might just agree. But I’m NOT going to bet on it!
“Many did not notice what the coup authors did in November 2017 to create a veneer of legality. Dubious cases were brought to court; one of them was to declare that the military’s conduct was constitutional and another to declare that Mnangagwa’s firing as VP had been unconstitutional,” Magaisa wrote on his micro-blog Twitter Thursday morning.
Magaisa further laid into the judiciary saying the same High Court was skewed by the November 2017 power transition architects, who intelligently sold the nation a dummy in a bid to clear a way for Mnangagwa ahead of Mphoko.
“In this way, the authors of the coup used the High Court to legally sanitise the coup and incredibly, to reinstate Mnangagwa! This was to pretend that Mnangagwa and Mphoko were at par therefore opening a way for Mnangagwa to succeed Mugabe while elbowing out Mphoko.
“The capture of referees is probably the most egregious assault on democracy. They bend to the ruler’s will while the rest are under the spell of legitimacy, believing that referees are impartial, fair and deliver legitimate decisions. One has to overcome that naivety,” he added.
263Chat could not get Zanu PF’s side as party spokesperson Ambassador Simon Khaya Moyo is in South Africa where he is overseeing polls while secretary for administration Obert Mpofu and secretary for legal affairs Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana were not available.
Meanwhile, early Thursday, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Permanent secretary Nick Mangwana wrote on his micro-blog Twitter distancing President Mnangagwa from court interference charging there is no value for him.
“The way courts are demonised in Zim is highly contemptible. To even accuse President ED of being involved in a judgement with zero political dividend to him smacks of ludicrous paranoia and conspiracy theories reaching fantasy grade. What value would he derive out of this?” he wrote.
Chamisa’s MDC has however treated the court ruling as an empty thunderbolt vowing to progress with the party’s fifth elective congress end of this month for the first time without the party founding father, Dr. Tsvangirai.
Chamisa, who is heading for the congress uncontested, is on the brink of shaking off legitimate controversies surrounding his ascendancy to power in February 2018 after the death of Tsvangirai, who succumbed to the cancer of the colon battle in South Africa on Valentine’s Day.
