Mugabe must obey the law even if he thinks it is wrong

President Robert Mugabe must obey the laws of Zimbabwe and court decisions even if he thinks they are wrong, a survey just released by Afrobaromter says.

Only 20 percent of the respondents said he should not be bound by the laws or court decisions that he thought were wrong compared to a staggering 71 percent that said he should.

The proportion that says he should obey the law has, however, declined over the past decade from a peak of 82 percent in 2005.

Although majorities across all education levels think the president should be bound by laws, this view is more common among those with post-secondary qualifications (84%) than among respondents with secondary (73%), primary (62%), or no formal education (61%).

Afrobarometer says a generational analysis shows that youth (75%) are more inclined than adults (72%) and older respondents (64%) to say that the president should always obey the law and courts even if he thinks they are wrong.

MDC-T supporters (82%) are more likely than ZANU-PF supporters (62%) to share this view.