ZANU PF activist, Lovedale Mangwana, has threatened to approach the courts seeking to bar Saviour Kasukuwere from contesting the presidential election. Mangwana claims that Kasukuwere is not a registered voter and is therefore in violation of the constitution.

Lovedale Mangwana plans to submit an application that cites Saviour Kasukuwere and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) as respondents. Mangwana claims that Kasukuwere’s nomination for the presidential election is invalid because he is not a registered voter. Mangwana quotes the Electoral Act which states that if a voter has not lived in a constituency for a continuous period of 18 months, their name cannot be retained on the voters’ roll for that constituency. He said:

I submit that the decision to accept the first respondent’s nomination paper is in breach of section 91(1)(d) of the Constitution and invalid.

I was convinced that this circumstance meant that he is no longer a registered voter for any constituency in the republic and consequently, he does not qualify for candidacy for election to the office of President.

Saviour Kasukuwere has been in self-imposed exile in South Africa since 2017. He skipped the country when the late former President, Robert Mugabe, was ousted from power.

He registered to contest in the presidential election as an independent presidential candidate. Kasukuwere’s spokesperson and chief election agent, Jacqueline Sande, has confirmed that the legal team is preparing a response and will fight the case in court. Sande has expressed confidence that Kasukuwere will succeed in his bid to contest the presidential election, stating that there is no sustainable case to prevent him from running. Sande told NewsDay:

The legal team is seized with the matter. They have seen the draft application which has not yet been issued and served, to us. We have prepared a response and once we are formally served, we shall fight it in the courts. We are confident that we will succeed.

We believe that there is no sustainable case which can prevent Kasukuwere from contesting for the highest post in the land. Come August 23, he will emerge as the president of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

That being said, nothing will deter Kasukuwere from running as presidential candidate come August 23.

I would like to urge all Zimbabweans to rally behind him and bring change to our country. This is what democracy is all about. Where one leader has failed, s/he has to give the baton to someone else to develop or stir the ship.

Kasukuwere, a former Minister of Local Government, is one of 10 presidential candidates who will be competing against President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the upcoming election.

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