ZEC Sued Over "Grossly Unreasonable, Unlawful” Election Fees
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has been sued over recently-gazetted fees to be paid by candidates intending to run for election, ZimLive.com reports.
Former presidential candidate Egypt Dzinemunhenzva and three others who filed an application at the High Court on Monday said the new fees are “grossly unreasonable, unlawful.
They said the fees would deprive citizens of their legal right to participate in government directly or through freely chosen representatives without distinction on the ground of race, ethnicity, gender, language, political or religious belief, education, physical appearance or disability or economic or social condition as pronounced in section 3(b) of the Electoral Act.
The fees:
ZEC last month raised fees for presidential, parliamentary and council aspirants who wish to contest in next year’s general elections.
Contained in statutory instrument 144 of 2022, the fees are:
i). USD$20,000 to run for president,
ii). US$1,000 to stand as MP candidate and
iii). US$200 to file nomination papers for local authority elections.
What they want:
Dzinemunhenzva, joined by Harare North MP Allan Markham and activists Tapiwanashe Chiriga and Vongai Zimudzi, previously wrote to ZEC giving it 72 hours to scrap the fees, but the ultimatum was ignored.
The quartet is asking the High Court to declare the statutory instrument unconstitutional.
They say it infringes section 67 of the Zimbabwe constitution which gives every Zimbabwean citizen who is of or over eighteen years of age the right to stand for election for public office and, if elected, to hold such office.
They also want Statutory Instrument 144 of 2022 to be repealed.
The matter is yet to be heard.
