The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Zimbabwe has announced that it will not field a presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, instead, it will support ZANU PF’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, citing shared Pan-African alliances with the ruling party.
According to Innocent Ndibali Sibanda, the president of the EFF in Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa is the only candidate who can ensure continuity in land expropriation without compensation and protect Zimbabwe’s sovereignty. He spoke to News24:
He (Mnangagwa) is the only president who will ensure continuity in land expropriation without compensation, and the protection of the non-negotiable Zimbabwe sovereignty.
The EFF voted with ZANU PF at the Pan-African Parliament and brought about the EFF-sponsored rotational principle in the presidency of the Pan-African Parliament.
ZANU PF, under President Mnangagwa, has not violated the rights of Africans and this is in line with our borderless Africa and the belief that no African can be a foreigner in Africa.
During the Pan-African Parliament last year, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in South Africa voted for Zimbabwe’s Fortune Charumbira for the presidency. However, the EFF in Zimbabwe has taken a different stance by supporting ZANU PF’s Emmerson Mnangagwa. This is in contrast to the leader of the EFF South Africa, Julius Malema, who criticised Mnangagwa in a tweet for jailing opposition leaders, stating that it was “pathetic” to imprison someone for holding different political views.
Meanwhile, the Nomination Court for Zimbabwe’s upcoming elections will require a US$20 000 (R400,000) fee to be lodged at the high court for presidential candidates, US$1000 (R20,000) for parliamentarians at provincial courts, and US$200 (R4,000) for those aspiring to Senate seats. Although the fees were contested last week, the Constitutional Court upheld the amounts. On Monday, opposition political parties filed an urgent court application seeking a reduction in the fees, but High Court Judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi ruled that the matter was not urgent and should be set down for a normal hearing. The high fees could potentially discourage many aspirants from running for office.