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Fungai Lupande Court Reporter
MDC-T deputy national chairman Morgan Komichi, accused of breaking the country’s electoral laws, presented an unsealed grey tamper-proof envelop to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the court heard yesterday. The commission’s chief legal officer Ms Shamiso Babra Chahuruva said this during cross-examination.
Komichi’s lawyer Mr Alec Muchadehama quizzed Ms Chahuruva why she did not mention it to the police that Komichi presented an unsealed envelop.
In response, Ms Chahuruva said she referred to the packet handed over to him which was the grey tamper proof envelop.
“He mentioned it himself to the Commission that he had unsealed the envelops. Even the khaki envelop inside the grey tamper proof which contained three ballot papers was unsealed,” she said.
Mr Muchadehama accused the witness of discussing evidence and how to answer questions with other State witnesses specifically on the issue of unsealed envelops.
Mr Muchadehama also insisted that Komichi denied telling the Commission that he had unsealed the grey tamper proof envelop.
Ms Chahuruva, responding to the allegations told the court that Komichi brought the envelops in a meeting in which she was present.
“The envelop was written the name of the voter, Mugove Chiginya, Harare as the district and Southerton North as the Constituency. Mt Pleasant was also written on the envelop as the centre for special voting,” she said.
Mr Muchadehama questioned Ms Chahuruva if she was aware that Chiginya was a registered vote in Mbare constituency.
“Do you accept that there was something wrong with the details on the envelop considering that there is no such ward in the constituency Chiginya was registered as a voter,” he said.
In her response Ms Chahuruva told the court that the Commission has learnt that most people did not know which constituency or ward they are registered.
Before the trial was adjourned to today, Mr Muchadehama registered his concern that his client was in custody hence the need to expeditiously deal with the trial.
Magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe dismissed the concern indicating that the courts are overwhelmed and cannot deal with a single case.
Komichi was arrested on July 28 on allegations of misrepresenting to Zec that he had “picked up” from a dust bin, a sealed tamper-proof envelope with a special vote ballot paper at the Harare International Conference Centre.
Komichi allegedly approached Zec deputy director of public relations Mr Tendai Pamire and told him that an unnamed person informed him that they had picked an envelope from a dustbin at the HICC where the special vote was being processed.
He further alleged that he had opened it out of curiosity and discovered that there were ballot papers cast by the police in favour of MDC-T by Constable Mugove Chiginya.
The commission reported the matter to the police and investigations showed that Cst Chiginya had failed to vote in the special voting exercise as his name had not been called out by the presiding officer.
Online Reporter