Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign claims that it has filed a court application seeking an order to compel President Robert Mugabe to step down alleging that the 92 year-old Zimbabwean leader has failed to properly run the country.
Spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi of Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign, comprising 40 different organizations and thousands of individuals, filed the Constitutional Court application today.
Mkwananzi, who claimed that he personally filed the application, said Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign is arguing that at 92 the president is not capable of carrying out his work due to advanced age.
He said they are further claiming that the president is currently failing to properly execute some of his duties as stipulated in Zimbabwe’s constitution.
Studio 7 was unable to get details of the court application and court officials referred all questions to the Clerk of Court, who was not available for comment.
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Indications are that Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign did not hire lawyers to file the application. Jacob Mafume, a Harare-based attorney and member of the People’s Democratic Party led by Tendai Biti, said individuals have the right to file cases in the Constitutional Court.
Mafume contends that it will be a mammoth task to force the president to step down through such a constitutional challenge.
Denford Ngadziore, another member of Tajamuka-Sesijikile Campaign, told Studio 7 that the Constitutional Court is just one of the several options they are taking to ensure that the president steps down.
The campaign group and other activists have been holding a series of protests calling on President Mugabe to step down for allegedly ruining the economy, gross abuse of human rights and failure to address corruption gripping in the country.
Section 96 of Zimbabwe’s constitution clearly stipulates that the president may resign his or her office by written notice to the Speaker of Parliament. Section 97 of the country’s supreme law further stipulates that the president can be removed from office through a joint resolution passed by at least one-half of the total members of parliament.
The president can also be removed from office for serious misconduct, failure to obey, uphold or defend the Constitution; wilful violation of the Constitution; and or inability to perform the functions of the office because of physical or mental incapacity.