ZEC's hefty nomination fees unite political rivals

Zimbabwe's three main political parties will find cause to unite in parliament this coming week as they seek to strike down exorbitant nomination fees pegged by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for candidates seeking to contest the August harmonised elections.

This comes after the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) on Friday ruled against ZEC's controversial pegging of fees for presidential candidates at US$20,000 per head and US$1,000 for aspiring MPs.

ConCourt gave parliament seven days to review the fees.

This followed a challenge filed in the apex court by Devine Mhambi Hove, leader of the opposition National Alliance of Patriotic and Democratic Republicans (NPDR).

Parliament is set to sit soon amid high expectations the matter will feature in the business of the house.

CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere told ZimLive her party would engage all MPs across the political divide to reverse the hefty nomination fees.

"The latest Constitutional Court ruling prohibiting the exorbitant Nomination Court fees as set out in SI 144/2022 vindicates the CCC position that ZEC must not unduly restrict citizen participation in electoral processes by making the fees unaffordable in this harsh economic climate.

"CCC MPs are ready to propose reasonable fees that will cover administration costs by ZEC and in line with our economic realities.

"The CCC believes genuine members of parliament from across the political divide will unite to put forward a reasonable and affordable fee in light of the economic challenges faced by citizens throughout the country who intend to be candidates in this coming general election," said Mahere.

Prior to the ConCourt ruling, the opposition had voiced disapproval with the patently elitist nomination fees.

Critics argued the fees would yield an elitist election that only takes a wealthy class from society while shutting out those who merit election to public office.

Aspiring female candidates, who have proven to be more economically handicapped than their male counterparts, are more likely to be negatively impacted by the fees.

MDC spokesperson Witness Dube said the ConCourt judgment have Zimbabweans a democratic lifeline adding that party MPs will join forces with likeminded opponents within the house to decrease the fees.

"The court's ruling has given the Zimbabwean people a lifeline, a glimmer of hope in terms of affirming our democracy where we don't have fees as restrictive measures when it comes to political representation of the masses.

"Since this is going to be determined by parliament, we will be working with everyone in parliament.

"When I say everyone, I mean MDC will be open to working with CCC, will be open to working with Zanu-PF MPs in order to arrive at very reasonable nomination fees.

"No matter how much the country needs in terms of funds to run the election, we should fund our elections through other means not directly relying on the participants because that has an adverse effect on limiting the space, the democratic space shrinking it and actually impacting on the quality of leadership that therefore emerges," said Dube.

Nomination fees for presidential candidates in the 2018 general election were US$1,000 and US$50 for parliamentary candidates.