Court says Mugabe bid to seize Harare illegal

HARARE, Mar 3 (Reuters) The Zimbabwe High Court has declared illegal a move by President Robert Mugabe to seize control of the opposition-led Harare local council, state media reported today.

Mugabe's government in 2004 dismissed an elected Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) council in the capital -- an opposition stronghold -- and appointed a commission dominated by supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party to run the municipality.

Critics have accused Mugabe's government of dissolving opposition council administrations to reassert control of areas where the ruling party lost elections since 2000, when the MDC emerged as a serious threat to ZANU-PF's hold on power.

According to the country's law on urban councils, the government can dissolve a local administration and replace it for six months but must then hold elections.

The government has since 2004 refused to call elections for a new council in Harare despite several court orders ruling it must do so.

The state-run Herald newspaper reported High Court judge Lawrence Kamocha had granted an order invalidating the re-appointment, by Mugabe's government, of his own commission for the fourth time.

''The ruling by Justice Lawrence Kamocha effectively invalidates all decisions made by the commission after its fourth term's appointment, throwing the capital in an administrative quandary,'' said the Herald.

The government has in the past ignored similar court rulings and continued to control the strategic municipality.

The Supreme Court has previously ruled the government had abused its powers by failing to hold municipal elections there.

The latest court ruling follows an application by a former senior council employee who applied to have the commission's re-appointment -- and its decision to sack him -- declared invalid.

REUTERS SP RN1732