Authorities said the polling officers have been charged with fraud and criminal abuse of duty. They are facing charges of undercounting 5,000 votes cast for Mugabe.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday stepped up pressure on the Mugabe regime to immediately announce the presidential election results and urged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to release results of the polls “expeditiously and with transparency.”
Attempts by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to obtain a court order compelling the ZEC to announce the results immediately have been bogged down by legal delays.
The MDC maintains that its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the election by an outright majority of 50.3 per cent.
But Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) has demanded a recount in 16 constituencies even before the results are announced.
On Monday, a High Court judge, Justice Tendai Uchena, dismissed the ZEC’s argument that his court did not have jurisdiction and set the case for Tuesday, when he will merely decided whether the case is urgent or not.
“The judge dismissed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s application that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter,” opposition lawyer Alec Muchadehama told reporters outside the Harare High Court.
“The judge has requested for more time to decide on the matter of the urgency.”
The ZEC lawyer said the votes were still being verified, while the ruling party’s demands for a recount were also delaying matters.
ZEC spokesman Shupikai Mashereni declined to comment. Police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka also refused to shed light on the arrests.