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Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Reporter
The Electoral Court yesterday rejected an application by MDC-T losing candidate for the Mt Pleasant National Assembly seat Mr Jameson Timba for an order compelling the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to open sealed ballot boxes and packets used in last year’s harmonised poll since this would require opening Presidential ballots as well.
Mr Timba also wanted an opportunity to inspect electoral records for the purpose of prosecuting his petition that was pending at the Electoral Court.
Justice Susan Mavangira ruled that since the elections were harmonised, it was incompetent to grant the order that would see the opening of papers for the Presidential and local authority elections.
She ruled that only the Constitutional Court had jurisdiction to order the opening of boxes and packets relating to the Presidential election.
“This being the fact, it appears to follow that the granting of the order sought herein by the applicant will result in the accessing of not only election residue pertaining to the election being contested by the applicant in the pending petition that being Mt Pleasant National Assembly election.
“In any event, any challenge or petition regarding the Presidential election would be a matter for which only the Constitutional Court would have jurisdiction.
“Any accessing of election residue pertaining to the Presidential election could only, thus, be by way of an appropriate order granted by such court,” ruled Justice Mavangira.
On that basis, the court dismissed the application without any order regarding legal costs.
Mr Timba lost the election to Zanu-PF legislator Cde Jaison Passade on July 31 last year.
In order to substantiate his petition, Mr Timba, through his lawyer Mr Trust Maanda, decided to file an application for the unsealing of the boxes and packets containing election material.
Harare lawyers Mr Charles Nyika and Mr Tawanda Kanengoni of Nyika, Kanengoni and Partners represented the ZEC.
Online Reporter