Zimbabwean Police are seen outside the Constitutional Court in Harare after the opposition Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) was summoned to the court, Monday, Aug. 19, 2013. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai who lost to President elect, Robert Mugabe in recent elections has withdrawn his legal challenge to the July 31 vote, but Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court on Monday heard demands by Mugabe’s attorneys for a hearing to go ahead anyway, apparently reflecting the president’s confidence. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s highest court has thrown out a legal challenge that alleged the July 31 elections won by President Robert Mugabe were marred by fraud.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, head of the Constitutional Court, on Tuesday dismissed the challenge from Zimbabwe’s main opposition party and said the court found that the elections had been free and fair. The ruling clears the way for Mugabe’s inauguration on Thursday.
Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, appoints the nation’s judges and they have frequently ruled in his favor in the past decade of political and economic turmoil.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai had sought to withdraw his legal challenge, saying the state refused to hand over polling data that he needed as evidence. But the court considered the challenge anyway.
