An overview of the state of electoral justice in Zimbabwe

The past few years have seen a number of election-related legal challenges in Zimbabwe, including the recently concluded 2018 post Mugabe election. Litigation has therefore become prominent phenomenon in Zimbabwean elections and thus a problematique that deserves scrutiny, since only a few works is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:African renaissance 2019-03, Vol.16 (Special 1), p.199-216
Main Author: Asuelime, Timi Legend
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allegiance
Authoritarianism
Court hearings & proceedings
Democracy
Disputes
Elections
Electoral justice
Familiarity
Human rights
Judiciary
Justice
Legitimacy
Litigation
Petitions
Political parties
Presidential elections
Rule of law
Scrutiny
Trials
Violence
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)
Zimbabwe Judiciary
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Summary:The past few years have seen a number of election-related legal challenges in Zimbabwe, including the recently concluded 2018 post Mugabe election. Litigation has therefore become prominent phenomenon in Zimbabwean elections and thus a problematique that deserves scrutiny, since only a few works is done that is close to this. Hence, this paper seeks to analyse the role of the judiciary in election disputes and the implications for the consolidation of electoral democracy in Zimbabwe. The paper considers the judiciary‘s familiarity with electoral processes and good electoral practices and how these impacts on the outcome of electoral petitions placed before it. The paper also interrogates the role played by political parties in electoral justice by looking at whether aggrieved contesting political parties have the necessary access and capacity to contribute to effective and stronger electoral justice in Zimbabwe. The paper concludes that while electoral justice in Zimbabwe lacks confidence and trust of the citizenry due largely to the fact that the Chief Justice, Chidyausiku was appointed to head the judiciary because of his allegiance and subservience to the ruling party (ZANU – PF). However, the new bench since 2017 and led by Chief Justice Malaba has promise.
ISSN:1744-2532
2516-5305
DOI:10.31920/2516-5305/2019/s1n1a10