FreeZim Congress leader Joseph Busha has said the US$20 000 nomination fee for presidential candidates set by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should be increased to US$50 000 so that only people who are serious will run for the presidency, reported NewsDay.
ZEC pegged fees for presidential candidates at US$20 000 per head and US$1 000 for aspiring MPs ahead of the 23 August harmonised elections.
Speaking during the launch of his presidential bid in Harare on Monday, 12 June, Busha said:
We don’t want people who want to play with Zimbabweans. Leaders pay all the time for the presidential candidate.
I think we should pay more because we do not want a bloated ballot (paper).
The US$20 000 is little and we need something like US$50 000 so that serious people contest the presidential elections.
Busha, however, said nomination fees for parliamentary and local government candidates are too high and should be reduced.
The Constitutional Court (ConCourt) on Friday ruled against ZEC’s nomination fees following an application by Devine Mhambi Hove, leader of the opposition National Alliance of Patriotic and Democratic Republicans (NPDR).
Mhambi argued that the fees were too high and contravened provisions of the national Constitution.
The ConCourt gave Parliament seven days to review the fees.
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