Factsheet: Zimbabwe poll fees among highest in Africa

Zimbabwe’s election fees for presidential, parliamentary and council candidates are among the highest in Africa, with nominations charges for running for the country’s highest executive post topping those of several African states.

In Statutory Instrument (SI)144 of 2022 published by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in August this year, with approval of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, the national election management body hiked the nomination fees for presidential candidates by staggering 1,900 percent.

The following tables show Zimbabwe’s new nomination fees, and those of a number of African countries.

Nomination fees for Presidential Candidate

Country	Category	Amount (USD)
Zimbabwe	all	20,000

Zambia	Male	5,873
	Female	4,636
	Youths	3,709
	Persons with Disabilities	3,709

Kenya	All	1,666

Malawi	Male	1,945
	Female	973
	Persons with Disabilities	833

Namibia	Independent Candidate	670
	Political Party Candidate	134

South Africa		0
Botswana		0

Nomination fee for Member of Parliament or Equivalent

Country	Category	Amount (USD)
Zimbabwe	All	1,000

Zambia	Male	927
	Female	835
	Youths	618
	Persons with Disabilities	618

Malawi	Male	486
	Youths	365
	Female	243
	Persons with Disabilities	243

Kenya	Male	167
	Female, Youths, Persons with Disabilities	83
Botswana	All	39
South Africa	All	31

Nomination fees for Local Councillor

For Local Councillors, South Africa ranks highest in the selected African countries followed by Zambia, Kenya, Malawi, Botswana and other countries which do not require nomination fee for this position, including Zimbabwe.

Country	Category	Amount (USD)
South Africa		125
Zambia	Male	93
	Female	62
	Youths	62
	Persons with Disabilities	62

Kenya	All	42

Malawi	Male	39
	Youths	29
	Persons with Disabilities	19
	Female	19

Botswana		8
Zimbabwe		0
Namibia		0