Zimbabwe court dismisses case questioning Mugabe's capacity to rule

Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court has dismissed a case that sought to question the capacity of 92-year-old president, Robert Mugabe.

The court however said the plaintiff could appeal the decision within 30 days. The dismissal centered largely on the premise that due court processes were not followed.

An activist with the Takamuka social movement, Promise Mkwananzi, went to court to seek to prove that Mugabe – who turns 93 this February, was unfit to hold office given his advanced age.

Even though most political watchers said they case was bound to fail, he has affirmed that he will appeal today’s ruling.

‘‘This is just a convenient excuse for the Constitutional Court to bite the bullet, so we are saying that we are going to reapply within 30 days as prescribed by the rule of the constitutional court and relaunch this issue,’‘ he said.

He says there was enough grounds to prove that the President lacked the capacity to occupy the office, citing statements that the president had made. Statements he describes as ‘‘clearly not in the spirit of the constitution.’‘

Mugabe is the only man to hold the office of president in the southern Africa country since its independence from the British. The country heads into elections next year and the ruling party want him to run.

The country has been hit by political protests which peaked last year. A drought in the region has been worsened by a crippling economy which is suffering from acute currency crisis.