‘SA judges election report political humbug’ Morgan Tsvangirai

tsvangirai-angry-Fidelis Munyoro Harare Bureau
A REPORT released recently by two South African judges on Zimbabwe’s 2002 presidential elections is political humbug that should be treated with the contempt it deserves, a legal expert has said.

The report by judges Dikgang Moseneke and Sisi Khampepe claimed the elections were not credible.

The controversial report was released last week following a lengthy legal battle spanning over five years by South African-based Mail & Guardian newspaper.

MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday threw his weight behind the report saying it “confirms what has been the major blemish of our elections in Zimbabwe, that the Presidential poll of 2002 was not free, fair and credible”.

But prominent lawyer, Terence Hussein, who represented President Mugabe in all the election petitions brought against him since 2002, dismissed the report saying it was based neither on fact nor law.

Hussein said he was not surprised that former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki did not rely on the report because he would have embarrassed himself.

“The report prepared by these two judges was crafted after interviewing a bunch of losers in the confines of air-conditioned hotels,” he said.

“The report is nothing but a political opinion piece which is now cloaked as quasi-judicial report.”

Hussein said the 2002 election was subjected to a fiercely fought petition in the local courts.

The judicial process, he said, was observed closely by the international bar association and a host of well-known Western funded NGOs.

“These organisations were completely silenced by the thorough legal review of the elections and transparency of the legal system,” said Hussein.

“The MDC raised the issues referred to in the two gentlemen’s report and they failed to sustain them.”

The MDC hired a South African senior Advocate Jeremy Gauntlet to argue the case for Tsvangirai assisted by Adv Adrian Philip de Bourbon.

During the hearing of the election petitions, a verification and an audit of the election residue was conducted.

This involved bringing the ballot material to the High Court where the MDC through its technical consultants looked through each and every document that was used in the plebiscite.

The 2002 elections were declared free, fair and credible by observers from Sadc, the African Union and many other international organisations.

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