The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has filed two notices of appeal at the Electoral Court appealing against the decision of the Nomination Court, which rejected Linda Masarira and Elisabeth Valerio’s nomination as candidates for election to the office of President in general elections scheduled for 23 August.
Masarira and Valerio failed to pay the required US$20,000 fee by the end of Wednesday to register their candidacy for the election. Even after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) gave disqualified candidates two hours to make the payment on Thursday, they still couldn’t make the payment.
Linda Masarira leads the opposition Labour, Economists and African Democrats (LEAD) while Elisabeth Valerio is president of the United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA).
Elisabeth Valerio recently condemned the Zimbabwean Parliament‘s decision to uphold high nomination fees for candidates set by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). Valerio expressed concern that the fees would prevent some aspiring candidates from participating in the upcoming elections as they cannot afford them. She argued that high nomination fees limit political participation to only those with financial resources and undermine the political rights of citizens.
According to Statutory Instrument (SI) 144 of 2022, parliamentary candidates must pay US$1,000, while presidential candidates must pay US$20,000 to run for their respective offices.