Factsheet: Election cases in the courts: Kasukuwere, CCC candidates

Independent Presidential Candidate Saviour Kasukuwere and a dozen National Assembly parliamentary candidates from Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) are appealing to the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court respectively over court rulings barring them from contesting the August 23 general elections.

This is an update of election-related cases:

On 19 July 2023 Elizabeth Valerio successfully appealed against the rejection of her nomination papers by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). The United Zimbabwe Alliance leader is so far the country’s only woman presidential candidate in the 2023 elections. (EC2/23)
On 26 July 2023, the High Court dismissed with costs an application by Linda Masarira challenging the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)’s rejection of her nomination papers. The Labour, Economists and African Democrats (LEAD) leader is no longer in the presidential race.
On 27 July 2023 the Supreme Court nullified Saviour Kasukuwere’s bid to be retained as a presidential candidate after the court ruled that he was legally ineligible after staying outside the country for more than 18 consecutive months. (SC387/2023)
The Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Bongani Ndlovu ruled on 27 July 2023 that 18 National Assembly aspirants in Bulawayo, including 12 from CCC, could not run in elections because they filed their registration papers after the 4pm deadline on nomination day. (EC02/2023)
On 19 July 2023, the Bulawayo High Court granted, Asakhe Online, permission to live stream election petition cases arising from the Court process. The Court granted the request, stating that the media house may only live stream the judgments, but not the actual proceedings of the election petition cases.
On 27 July 2023 High Court Judge, Justice Neville Wamambo dismissed an appeal by CCC to bar 41 candidates who filed nomination papers under its party name, saying there was nothing suspicious in the papers submitted to the Nomination Courts. (EC3/2023)