Chamisa submits more ‘evidence’

By Tendai Kamhungira

MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa has furnished the Constitutional Court (Con-Court) with more damning “evidence” of alleged electoral fraud by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), the Daily News can report.

In the latest testimonies lodged at the Con-Court, the MDC Alliance’s chief election agents recounted their chilling experiences at the hands of alleged State security agents who appeared to be taking instructions from Zec.

They told the court in their signed affidavits that they were threatened with death if Zanu PF was to lose the elections held on July 30, forcing them to flee from their homes.

Most of them gave their accounts from their hiding places.

Before making good their escape, they claimed to have been visited by suspected army officers who threatened them with death.

It was specifically demanded that they should append their signatures on V11 and V23 forms, which they had been initially denied access to by officials from Zanu PF and Zec.

A V11 form is used to record results at polling stations and is signed by all agents of the contestants while the V23 collates polling station results within a ward before they are forwarded to Zec’s National Command Centre.

Chamisa is pulling out all the stops in his attempts to overturn the July 30 presidential poll result.

Zec declared that Zanu PF presidential candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa won the election by 50,8 percent, but Chamisa described the results as fake, claiming they were rigged.

In court papers, the MDC Alliance’s chief election agents said they were not given an opportunity to sign V11 and V23 forms, observe and participate in any way in the post poll process, only to be summoned and visited later by the suspected security officials who then demanded that they should sign the forms.

“We did not see, neither were we given or signed any V11 or V23 forms. All this was done by Zanu PF and Zec officials without our input. All the agents for Zanu PF were headmen and village heads who moved around homes making threats and distributing food aid and inputs to people,” MDC Alliance’s chief election agent for Chiredzi North constituency, Mahohoma Matumba, told the court.

He said he later received a message from a Zanu PF headman on August 3, 2018, seeking him to visit the polling station to sign V11 forms that he had been denied access to on the election day.

Matumba said he refused to sign the forms and has since fled from his home and is in hiding.

Another chief election agent for Gokwe Kabuyuni constituency, Misheck Nyoni, narrated how Vice President Constantino Chiwenga came to address a rally in the area sometime in June.

He said people were forcefully ferried by lorries, to attend the rally.

“At the rally, we were told in no uncertain terms that we would die if Zanu PF lost and that there were recording machines in the ballot booths and village heads would be watching and writing down everyone’s name.

“At Mutiura polling station, I saw four village heads and headman Charumbira and war veterans acting as polling agents. I confronted them and we had a heated altercation. They refused to leave and Zec polling and police officers said they had no power to do anything,” he said.

Nyoni said he later fled from his home after one of his children told him that soldiers had come looking for him.

Lizzie Munozohamba, who was the MDC Alliance’s chief election agent for Gokwe North constituency said headmen and war veterans were used as polling agents by Zanu PF in her area.

She said during vote counting, Zec’s presiding officer and Zanu PF agents rejected valid ballots cast in favour of the MDC Alliance, adding that she was approached at home by people wearing army uniform demanding V11 and V23 forms from her.

Munozohamba claimed she refused them entry and fled to Harare soon after they had left.

Another chief election agent for Muzvezve constituency, Jacob Jacha, said they were denied entry into the polling station while voting was in progress.

“They (agents) were only allowed in after 10:00hrs despite the polling having started at 07:00hrs. They were being told they had not been accredited and when we raised the issue, we found out that we were all properly accredited.

“I received deaths threats and messages on the 2nd of August 2018 reminding me of the injuries and abductions that had happened to me in 2008,” said Jacha.

Precious Chapanduka from Chiware Village in Karoi, said Zanu PF used intimidation tactics in her area.

“They (Zanu PF members) were telling them (people) that if they vote for MDC there will be war. At 6pm the youths came again asking for polling station agents that were for MDC Alliance. We were then barred from signing the V11 forms.

“The unknown MDC Alliance polling agents were beaten up with sticks and were accused of being sell-outs,” Chapanduka said, adding that when she went home, she found a group of Zanu PF youths waiting for her.

Chamisa is asking the apex court to consider “mathematical violations” because all the “constitutional and statutory violations” and counting discrepancies “were meant to and did unduly favour the first respondent (Mnangagwa).”

He is arguing that the violations go to the root of a proper and credible electoral process.

“These are accordingly irregularities that cannot be ignored. These are irregularities that do not arise from mistakes,” he said.

“I submit that the evidence placed before the court shows gross irregularities which affect the validity of the election and its outcome. That being the case, I submit that the entire process must be declared invalid and accordingly set aside,” added Chamisa in his court papers.

Zanu PF is filing its opposing papers today before the Con-Court, challenging Chamisa’s submissions. –DailyNews