So, no, I do not accept that the Mnangagwa administration has both legality and legitimacy by dint of the 30 July 2018 elections. The 30 July elections bestowed on Mnangagwa only a veneer of legality, not in terms of the rule of law but in terms of rule by law. The legal rules that were used to organise and run the 30 July elections were superintended by a coup government that came into power via the gun. The military was fully behind the conduct of ZEC and organs of the state in the preparation for and conduct of the 30 July elections.
It was impossible for any civilian to raise a finger against the military between 13 November 2017 and 30 July 2018, let alone now.Add to this the documented fact that the military deployed and embedded serving and retired soldiers across all communities in Zimbabwe. These soldiers became a law unto themselves in the rural areas. It is also a fact that the military took over key security organs, notably the Police, National Prosecuting Autority and even elements of the judiciary.
Against this backdrop, legality flowing from imposed or decreed law by the coup government, an illegitimate authority, is problematic and unsustainable. Put differently, no legitimate outcome can result from an illegitimate action. The coup government took effective control of the country by force, but that control did not become legitimate on account of its effectiveness. A hijack does not become legitimate or legal by virtue of its effectiveness. The matter would have been different had the coup resulted in an all-inclusive government whose first order of business would have been to restore constitutional governance, and which would have prepared for free and fair elections in accordance with the Constitution.
As for the 30 July 2018 general election, the preparation for that election and the outcome of the presidential election did not yield any legitimacy. In my view, and based on Zimbabwe’s new Constitution, sustainable legality with the force of the rule of law can only come from a legitimate election with a legitimate outcome.
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