IN LIMINE i. No valid application has been filed by the applicant challenging the election of the 1st respondent to the office of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, in terms of s93 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe as read with the Constitutional Court Rules, 2016. ii. In terms of s93(1) of the Constitution, a challenge to the validity of an election to the office of President is instituted by way of a petition or application lodged with the Constitutional Court within seven days after the date of the declaration of the results of the election. Being a period prescribed by statute, the seven days provided by s93(1) of the Constitution are reckoned with the inclusion of Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The time for lodging a petition in terms of s93(1) thus expired on the 10th of August 2018. iii. In terms of r23(2) of the Constitutional Court Rules, the application provided for in terms of s93(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe shall be filed with the Registrar of the Constitutional Court and shall be served on the respondent(s) within seven days of the date of the declaration of the result of the election. Both, such filing and service within the seven-day period are constitutive of the proper lodging of a challenge to the election of a President. iv. Being peremptorily limited to the period of seven days after the declaration of the result of the election, any filing and/or service that is done outside that

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