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Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
Parliamentary and civic rights watchdog, Veritas Zimbabwe, was yesterday exposed for its “string pulling” strategy to bring futile litigation against the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in an attempt to discredit President Mnangagwa’s administration in the event of an election loss by opposition political alliances in the July 30 harmonised elections.

The civic organisation is suing the electoral commission over alleged voter education monopoly.

Analysts who spoke to The Herald yesterday criticised the conduct of Veritas Zimbabwe’s actions, equating it to the South African civic group AfriForum.

AfriForum group is well-known for pushing skewed minority Afrikaners’ agenda.

Political analyst and legal expert Mr Tendai Toto said the court challenge was a testimony of somewhat right wing strategies to build up a case against President Mnangagwa’s administration in the event of a likely elections loss by the partners of the opposition political alliances.

“This is a known string pulling strategy, among others, that exist in the right wing stable of opposition political parties – the piling of cases into the courts in a scatter bombing fashion, to whom it may concern, seeking to disrupt, attack and discredit the scrupulous and diligent manner in which the ZEC under the Mnangagwa administration is executing its functions in terms of Section 238 (a) and (h) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe,” said Mr Toto.

“I see the flooding of elections-related court challenges as long pre-emptively designed strategies that just seek to scuttle the electoral processes.”

In its application, Veritas wants sections 40C (1) (g) and 40C (2) of the Electoral Amendment Act to be struck down as unconstitutional.

The section requires only ZEC and political parties to conduct voter education, while civic organisations and even individuals cannot conduct any voter education programmes without first submitting them to processes supervised by ZEC.

The law also disallows the use of foreign donations for voter education, which includes donations from Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora.

The parliamentary watchdog argues that the provisions are restrictive as they violate citizens’ constitutional rights to freely receive and impart information and ideas, as well as their rights to equality and their rights to make free and informed political choices.

ZEC has a constitutional function in terms of Section 239 (h) to conduct and supervise voter education.

Parts of Section 40 of the Electoral Amendment Act that is alleged to be in conflict with the bill of rights derive standing from the provisions of Section 239 (h) of the Constitution.

Mr Toto said ZEC had a supervisory role upon any organisation that sought to conduct voter education.

“The supervisory role will define parameters and agreed terms of reference and the manner of conducting voter education,” he said.

“A freelance approach to voter education undermines the constitutional functions of ZEC and the same has potential to invite unscrupulous and clandestine voter education campaigns that can be harmful to the citizen’s rights, including free choice of association and dissociation among others.”

Mr Toto found it hard for Veritas to seek the higher court to pronounce upon the interpretation of the “transparency” provisions in an election.

“Transparency bears interpretative relevance and meaning when applied to a specific and practical considerations of circumstances brought before a court,” he said.

“The court cannot certainly pre-pronounce what it thinks is a “transparent” manner of conducting elections without presenting it with specific circumstances within which transparency is tested.”

Another political analyst Mr Goodwine Mureriwa said Veritas, like the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network, had been trying to do what AfriForum have always done in South Africa.

He said such organisations were part of the greater Western-funded NGOs, whose agenda was to create instability in the region by undermining liberation movements.

“They are disguised as good governance, human rights and democracy, yet their mission is the opposite,” said Mr Mureriwa.

“What opposition parties fail to do through electoral contests, they pursue by peddling falsehoods and invoking futile litigation? Unfortunately in our case, the colonial judiciary system has been dismantled.”

Mr Mureriwa said the country’s laws were sovereign and would not be abused by foreigners under the guise of monopoly of so-called international best practises.

The recently enacted Electoral Amendment Act, he said, could not be changed until after the elections.

“That is the rule of the law as guided by our Constitution,” he  said.

Veritas is arguing that voters should be given appropriate and adequate information on balloting and for ZEC to run a free, fair and credible election.

In one of the two constitutional applications it filed at the High Court, Veritas seeks to open up voter education, arguing it is restricted only to ZEC.

Through its lawyer Mr Dougie Coltart of Mtetwa and Nyambirai, Veritas argues that both cases are premised on the constitutional issues affecting the Electoral Amendment Act and ZEC’s functions under the Constitution and the Act.

Justice Charles Hungwe is today expected to rule on Veritas’ application, challenging ZEC on voter education monopoly.

The case on which Veritas is seeking the definition of transparency will also be heard today in the same court.