THE full bench of the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) of Zimbabwe this week ruled that President Robert Mugabe is “a bastard too old to rule the country”.
The full ConCourt bench headed by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku make the ruling when it agreed to set free a 32-year old Mwenezi man, who was facing charges in “insulting” Mugabe for saying the above remarks while pointing at the President’s image on television more five years ago.
Fortune Makonzo had been charged with undermining the authority of or insulting the President as defined in section 33(2) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
The State had alleged that on November 11, 2011, while at National Railways Club at Rutenga Growth Point in Mwenezi, Makonzo uttered “denigrating words against Mugabe”, saying “he was a bastard too old to rule the country”.
Makonzo was alleged to have uttered the statement while pointing at Mugabe’s clip on television in the company of other patrons in the club.
When Makonzo appeared before a magistrate, he, through his lawyer, David Hofisi, challenged the constitutionality of the offence and the matter was referred to the highest court in the land for determination.
This week, Hofisi, from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, told the full ConCourt bench, that he had agreed with the Prosecutor General’s Office that the charge preferred against his client did not contain one of the essential elements of the alleged offence.
Chidyausiku then granted the application for permanent stay of prosecution. “Application succeeds and an order in terms of the amendment is granted,” he said.
What the ruling effectively means is that the highest court in the land agreed that Makonzo did not commit any crime by saying Mugabe—then 87 years old—was too old.-Zimbotoday
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