4. Presence of Police during the count in breach of Section 62 of the Electoral Act Zimbabwe’s Electoral Act makes it clear that the roll of the Police is solely confined to keeping order at polling stations. Despite these clear provisions of the law police officers were heavily involved in the process in every single polling station 5. Breach of SADC Guidelines, sections 68 & 69 of the constitution and rules of natural justice SADC guideline 2.1.7 provides for the independence of the Judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions. The approach and attitude of the High Court toward the MDC applications for information and material that was necessary for the prosecution of the petition demonstrated the uneven playing field upon which they were expected to operate thus confirming the fear of judicial complicity in manipulating the electoral process. Section 69 of the new constitution guarantees the right to a fair hearing. It provides that “in the determination of civil rights and obligations, every person has a right to a fair, speedy and public hearing within a reasonable time before an independent and impartial court, tribunal or other forum established by law”. The conduct of ZEC and its senior officers cited in the petition was inconsistent with the requirements for administrative justice as provided for in Section 68 of the new constitution. That provision provides that “every person has a right to administrative conduct that is lawful, prompt, efficient, reasonable, proportionate, impartial and substantively and procedurally fair”. On lawfulness, ZEC failed to provide the MDC with material such as an electronic copy of the voters’ roll despite the fact that the MDC had a legitimate expectation that ZEC would discharge its functions fairly and efficiently but this clearly was not the case. Conclusion From this report it will be apparent that the electoral process was subverted through a detailed and carefully laid plan executed with military precision by a variety of Government offices and institutions. This involved the systematic and deliberate breach of a variety of laws contained in both the Electoral Act and the Constitution. At the core of this was the non-availability of the voters roll in electronic format which, had it been available, would have exposed much of the electoral fraud. Other election issues worth separate mention Election funding On 12 April 2013 ZANU PF and MDC-T were embroiled in a fight over the visit of a United Nations (UN) election assessment team amid reports that Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa had blocked the visit. Recommendations made by the UN could have resulted in the body funding the country’s forthcoming polls. On 17 April 2013 the Government cancelled the poll-funding request. Voters’ roll issues On 19 July lawyers delivered a formal notification and warning to Tobaiwa Mudede, the RegistrarGeneral of Voters to withdraw his urgent chamber application filed in the High Court on 17 July barring the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) from launching an audit of the country’s roll of registered voters as it was premised on an erroneous understanding of facts. In a letter written and delivered to Mudede’s lawyers, RAU’s lawyers asserted that the application and subsequent provisional order, which he obtained from High Court Judge Justice Joseph Mafusire, were based on a factual inaccuracy. The lawyers stated that Mudede’s lawyers were given the correct facts and a demand was made for the withdrawal of their matter. 49