The leader of the Nationalists Alliance Party (NAP), Divine Mhambi-Hove, has called on other political parties to boycott the upcoming general elections in protest against the hefty nomination fees for election candidates.
Mhambi-Hove, who launched a Constitutional Court challenge against the fees, said a lot of poor people won’t be able to contest in the elections.
This comes after Parliament’s Legal Committee (PLC) approved the nomination fees after a Constitutional Court ruling ordering Parliament to review Statutory Instrument (SI) 144 of 2022 which set the nomination fees in August 2022.
The PLC is made up of five members, three of whom are ZANU PF members.
It issued a Non-Adverse Report authorising the nomination costs, which means candidates must pay US$1 000 to run for MP, Senate, or provincial council, and US$20 000 to run for president.
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Bulawayo on Friday, Mhambi-Hove said filing an urgent court application at the Constitutional Court to determine the constitutionality of the nomination fees would be challenging given the time limit. He said:
The sensible thing is to not pay for those fees. Let’s speak with one voice that the nomination fees are very illegal. They violate the constitution, the rights of aspiring politicians and poor people.
Several companies will not support political parties because of the fear of being associated with politics.
I don’t think there’s anyone who is willing to part with US$20 000 so they can stand that’s totally unacceptable!
The Nominations Courts set to sit on Wednesday across the country to consider names of aspiring MPs and councillors.
In Harare, the nomination court will consider the names of presidential candidates.
More: Pindula News