HARARE – Independent presidential candidate and former cabinet minister Saviour Kasukuwere has been disqualified from contesting the upcoming presidential election after the High Court ruled that he did not meet the residency requirements stipulated in the electoral law.
Kasukuwere, currently exiled in South Africa, had filed his nomination papers in June intending to challenge the presidential poll for the first time in his political career.
His candidacy was however challenged in the courts by one Lovedale Mangwana, a Zanu PF activist, who argued that the former party commissar Kasukuwere did not meet the full requirements to contest the poll as he has not been a resident in Zimbabwe for the past 18 months.
In a ruling on Wednesday, Justice David Mangota of the Harare High Court upheld Mangwana’s contention and disqualified the politician from the race.
According to Section 91 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, for “qualifications for election as President and Vice-President (1) A person qualifies for election as President or Vice-President if he or she – (a) is a Zimbabwean citizen by birth or descent; (b) has attained the age of forty years; (c) is ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe; and (d) is registered as a voter.
“(2) A person is disqualified for election as President or Vice-President if he or she has already held office as President under this Constitution for two terms, whether continuous or not, and for the purpose of this subsection three or more years’ service is deemed to be a full term.”
The ruling is a blow to the former Mount Darwin lawmaker’s political ambitions, widely seen as a potential dark horse in the race widely expected to be a toss of the coin between President Emmerson Mnangagwa and arch-rival Nelson Chamisa.
A close ally of late former president Robert Mugabe, Kasukuwere was expected to draw his vote from the former ruler’s remnant support.
Kasukuwere faces arrest from his native country on alleged corruption and abuse of office.
