The High Court has nullified Saviour Kasukuwere’s nomination as candidate for the 2023 presidential election.
His attorneys said they will appeal against the decision as Kasukuwere has also been barred from talking about his participation in the poll.
Addressing journalists outside the court in Harare, Advocate Lewis Uriri said his client Lovedale Mangwana's case succeeded as the judge stuck to some provisions of Zimbabwe’s electoral laws.
Uriri said, “… One of the qualifications of candidates for the presidential elections is that they ought to be registered as a voter and the law is that if you are not ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe for at least 18 months then you are deemed to have ceased to be a registered voter and so Mr. Kasukuwere ceased to be by operation of law to be a registered voter and consequently ceased to be qualified to run for or to occupy office of the president of the republic … And so the court has declared that the acceptance of his nomination papers by the Nomination Court sitting at Harare was invalid and that consequently he cannot run for the office of the president of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
“Further, he has been barred or interdicted from holding himself out as a candidate in this election whether physically or any form of media whatsoever. So, yes, the law has been vindicated.”
Kasukuwere’s attorney, Jacqueline Sande, said they are taking the matter to the Constitutional Court.
Sande said, “We will fight until we win the case so that Kasukuwere remains a presidential candidate and ultimately leader of Zimbabwe. The court also surprisingly said Kasukuwere should no longer tell people that he is a presidential candidate and that his name should not be on the ballot paper.”
Political commentator, Effie Dlela Ncube, said the court verdict is not surprising.
Zimbabwe will hold council, parliamentary and presidential elections on August 23. There are 11 presidential candidates.