Chief Justice Luke Malaba, sitting with seven other Constitutional Court judges, said they found it prudent to dismiss the matter, which was not properly filed by the applicants, the MDC-T.
Malaba said they will give their reasons for dismissing the case.
His lawyer, Lovemore Mabhuku, said, “The Constitutional Court decided right at the outset not to go into the merits of the matter. They said we had not pleaded in a way that would accommodate them to hear the matter. That’s how they put it. They indicated that we were seeking two things in one application and they thought we should have sought one thing.”
Madhuku said the court could have come up with a different verdict.
“We obviously as lawyers and legal practitioners we respect the decision of the Constitutional Court and we are bound by it … We have already advised out clients and I think they will look at what it means. It would mean that the Constitutional Court has only thrown them out of the Constitutional Court and this does not mean that they will not get back to the Constitutional Court and then deal with the declaration.”
He further noted that the Constitutional Court did not go into the merits of the case.
“… The debate in court centered on the right that our clients were insisting on – the right to a free and fair election. That is what was at stake and that right is provided for in Section 67 of the Constitution. Then on the other hand, there was an issue of whether or not the delimitation report is invalid. This is what our clients outlined. The outlines were found in their actions on the basis of the invalidity of the delimitation report.”
Madhuku said both issues were not decided on Monday.
“There was no decision on the court which says their right was not infringed. There is no decision on the court which says the delimitation report is valid. That has not been decided. What has been decided is the technical. What we were supposed to write. It’s a matter that has been decided purely, wholly and exclusively on technical issues.”
He said they will take the matter to another court.
“Obviously we have seen what the court wants. One of the issues that they thought should happen is for the High Court to first issue a declaration on the validity of the delimitation report. Our clients ate very clear that they would want the delimitation report attended to by court and a declaration of invalidity and for that reason they will have to go to the High Court.”
At the same time, the Constitutional Court dismissed another matter filed by Jeremiah Bamu, who was seeking an order to compel ZEC to conduct the forthcoming elections as per some provisions of the country’s constitution.
One of his attorneys, Wilbert Mandinde, told reporters in Harare that the court noted that Bamu, as a legal practitioner, was supposed to represent himself in the matter and not see legal counsel.