Commissions Watch
Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence
25 Sept 2018
Court Challenge to Commission
On the same day the proclamation establishing the Commission was
published in the Gazette, an application was filed in the High Court to set
aside its establishment. The applicants’ papers in the case [Charles & the
Counselling Services Unit v the President of Zimbabwe and 10 Others] can
be viewed on the Veritas website [link].
The applicants challenge the Commission on several grounds:
The President established the Commission without seeking the advice of
the Cabinet [This ground is based on the fact that the President
announced the Commission’s establishment before he had appointed a
Cabinet].
The President established the Commission without publishing a
proclamation as required by the Commissions of Inquiry Act [Now of
course the President has done so].
The President could not appoint a Commission to inquire into his own
conduct [This challenge arises because, under section 213 of the
Constitution, the President is responsible for deploying the Defence
Forces and therefore, the applicants assume, he ordered their
deployment on the 1st August].
Two of the Commissioners, in public statements, have allegedly shown that
they are likely to be biased or that they have prejudged the subjectmatter of the Commission’s inquiry.
The Commission’s terms of reference presuppose that it was justifiable for
armed soldiers to be present on the streets of Harare on the 1st August.
Whether the High Court will rule in the applicants’ favour – indeed whether
the court will hear the matter at all before the Commission delivers its
report – remains to be seen.
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