By Riches Soberekon
The Zimbabwe High Court of Justice has annulled the candidacy of Savior Kasukuwere, an ally of former President Robert Mugabe, in the upcoming presidential election.
Savior Kasukuwere, 52, a former cabinet minister and senior member of the ruling Zanu-PF party, had planned to return from neighboring South Africa and run as an independent candidate in the August 23 elections.
However, the High Court in Harare ruled that Kasukuwere was ineligible to run because he had been living outside Zimbabwe for more than 18 months.
The court also ordered the electoral commission not to put his name on the ballot papers.
Kasukuwere’s electoral adviser, Jacqueline Sande, said that the court’s decision was “wrong” and that an appeal had been lodged.
The annulment of Kasukuwere’s candidacy is the latest in a series of legal challenges facing the opposition ahead of the election.
The largest opposition group in Zimbabwe, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), was prevented from launching its election manifesto at a rally due to a police ban, which was upheld by a lower court last weekend.
The CCC stated that more than 12 of their rallies had been prohibited in the previous week.
The presidential and legislative elections on August 23 will be the first major test of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rule since he took over from Robert Mugabe who has been in power for 37 years, winning the election by a narrow margin of 50.8%.
Mnangagwa is facing a challenge from Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the CCC.
The election is seen as a critical test of Zimbabwe’s democratic progress. Critics have accused the government of using the courts to target opposition politicians and of attempting to rig the election.
