MDC election appeal heard

Zimbabwe’s opposition argued in the country’s top court on Wednesday that the presidential election results must be thrown out, alleging that only massive doctoring of the vote had kept Emmerson Mnangagwa in office.

Lawyers for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) launched a blistering attack on the ruling Zanu-PF party and the election commission over the July 30 ballot – Zimbabwe’s first election since the ousting of Robert Mugabe in 2017.

“There is a massive coverup. There has been a massive doctoring of evidence,” Thabani Mpofu, representing the MDC, told the court.

Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s former ally, won the election with 50.8% of the vote – just enough to meet the 50% threshold needed to avoid a run-off against MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, who scored 44.3%.

“There were at least 16 polling stations with identical results – identical result for Chamisa, identical result for Mnangagwa.

“It is like a kid was playing with the figures,” Mpofu said.

He argued that irregularities wiped out the narrow margin by which Mnangagwa had avoided a second-round vote.

“A run-off is unavoidable. For now, the election must be set aside,” Mpofu said.

Nine judges, led by Chief Justice Luke Malaba, are hearing the case in Harare.

In a first for the country, the proceedings were broadcast live on state television.

Mnangagwa, who has vowed to revive Zimbabwe’s ruined economy, had hoped the elections would draw a line under Mugabe’s repressive 37year rule and open up a stream of foreign investment and aid.

The election was marred by the army opening fire on protesters after the vote, killing six people, claims of vote-rigging and a crackdown on opposition activists.

The MDC is citing a catalogue of discrepancies, including incorrect counting, fake “ghost” polling stations, and, at some polling stations, more ballots being counted than there were registered voters.