I, PRISCILLA MAKANYARA CHIGUMBA, in my capacity as the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and by due authority of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and that of the 25th respondent, hereby take oath and state that the facts I depose to hereunder are within my personal knowledge and belief and are true and correct. Where I relate to issues of a legal nature, I do so on advice from counsel which advice I accept.
I have read and understood the applicant’s founding papers and wish to respond thereto as follows:
This court application was filed in the Constitutional Court on Friday 10th August. Respondents 2 to 22 were the other candidates in the Presidential election on 30th July.
IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF ZIMBABWE CASE NO CCZ 42/18
The applicants, all Zimbabwean citizens but resident outside Zimbabwe, contended that the Constitution confers the right to vote on all Zimbabwean citizens, regardless of where they live. They applied to the Constitutional Court for an order striking down as unconstitutional certain sections of the Electoral Act denying voting facilities to Zimbabweans based abroad.
IT is hereby notified that the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has, in terms of subparagraph (4 )(a) of paragraph 18 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, approved the following rules of court made by the Chief Justice for regulating the proceedings of the Constitutional Court. These rules may be cited as the Constitutional Court Rules, 2016.
PATEL JA: This is an application under s 24(1) of the former Constitution for declaratory and consequential relief pursuant to the Declaration of Rights enshrined in that Constitution. The applicant in this matter is HIV positive. He started his anti-retroviral treatment in 2003. On 19 of February 2011, he was arrested at a meeting held to commemorate an AIDS activist. On the day of his arrest he was detained at Harare Central Police Station and then taken to Harare Remand Prison on 23 February 2011.