Mkhululi Nyathi is a
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
an lawyer who was appointed to the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is an independent Chapter 12 institution established in terms of Section 238 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe; which is responsible for the management and administration of Zimbabwe's electoral processes. It was ...
in 2010 and resigned on the day of the
2013 general elections, citing electoral irregularities.
Career history
Nyathi received a Bachelor of Laws at the
University of Zimbabwe
The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the Univers ...
in 1999 and a Masters of Laws from the
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...
in 2005. From 2002 to 2004, he was a lecturing Fellow in the Department of Public Law at the University of Zimbabwe. At the end of 2005, he joined the Faculty of Commerce,
National University of Science and Technology, where he taught insurance law and commercial law. At the end of 2006, he entered private practice and was Senior and Managing Partner at Mabhikwa Hikwa and Nyathi Legal Practitioners in
Bulawayo
Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...
.
In 2009, Nyathi represented
Mncedisi Twala, the man who accused
John Nkomo
John Landa Nkomo (22 August 1934 – 17 January 2013) was a Zimbabwean politician who served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. After serving for years as a minister in the government of Zimbabwe, he was the Speaker of Parliament ...
, then
Speaker of Parliament of Zimbabwe and a candidate for vice-president of
Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front
upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia ...
(ZANU-PF), of
sodomy
Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...
. In 2010, in what was seen as a concession to political pressure from South African President
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...
, appointed members to the human rights and electoral commissions, including Nyathi. This action was in fulfilment to the
Global Political Agreement (GPA), signed between Zimababawe's political parties on 15 September 2008, as part of the
2008–09 Zimbabwean political negotiations that ended the violence following the
2008 election.
Nyathi resigned from the electoral commissions on the day of the
2013 presidential election in a letter to President
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...
, which was copied to Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (; ; 10 March 1952 – 14 February 2018) was a Zimbabwean politician who was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He was president of the Movement for Democratic Change, and later the Movement for Democrati ...
and
MDC leader
Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube (born 7 July 1961) is a Zimbabwean lawyer, businessman and politician. He is the founding MDC leader and former President of Zimbabwean political party Movement for Democratic Change – Ncube. He currently serves within the Ci ...
. The letter states, "I do not wish to enumerate the many reasons of my resignation, but they all have to do with the manner the Zimbabwe 2013 harmonised elections were proclaimed and conducted. While throughout the whole process I retained some measure of hope that the integrity of the whole process could be salvaged along the way, this was not be, hence my considered decision to resign. Please note that my resignation has nothing to do with the outcome of the process, which I am still unaware of."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyathi, Mkhululi
Living people
University of Zimbabwe alumni
University of the Witwatersrand alumni
21st-century Zimbabwean lawyers
Academic staff of the University of Zimbabwe
Members of election commissions
Year of birth missing (living people)