Who does a President account to in a constitutional democracy?

Yesterday, Mr. Tichaona Mupasiri arrived late yesterday for the hearing of his application that he launched on 17 December 2021 in the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe (CCZ) under Case Number 34/21 seeking to impeach President Mnangagwa alleging that he has breached his constitutional duties.

The case seems a forgone conclusion as it is unlikely that the Court will live up to its constitutional duty to determine independently and impartially as required by the constitution, whether the behavior of a powerful President like President Mnangagwa in the Zimbabwean context can ever be held accountable for his conduct.

Although accountability of public office bearers is entrenched in the constitution and this is what citizens demand today, it is not easy to realize.

The duties of the citizens in holding the President to account for his conduct are often not generally delineated against a backdrop of lack of information needed to understand how well the responsibilities of public offices are being discharged.

In a constitutional democracy, accountability is an implicit tenet of an accountable, transparent, and open society.

At the core of Mupasiri’s application is an attempt to test what President Mnangagwa knew of the facts and circumstances surrounding the origin and implementation of the reconstruction legislation in relation to SMM and other entities, how he got to know what he has admitted to knowing, what his interest, if any, in the affairs of the targeted entities, and details of his involvement, if any.

According to Manikai, there was a major political fallout between President Mnangagwa and Mr. Mawere that triggered a series of events including the decision to divest the latter of all his companies without compensation.

It is alleged that President Mnangagwa knowingly engaged in a wide-ranging pattern of actions that violate the constitution, laws, government agency regulations, ethical requirements, repeatedly putting his own personal political interests before the public interest.

His coterie of associates including Manikai has directly attacked the rule of law resulting in the creation of two justice systems – one for the President’s allies and one for everyone else.

As part of the systemic attack on the rule of law that began under Mugabe’s watch, the victims have been the very institutions that might hold the Administration accountable including the Courts.