Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

2-minute read
16 July 2023 | 18:44 CAT

From left: Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa. (Photo: Ernest Ankomah / Getty Images) | A man reads a daily newspaper in Harare. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Aaron Ufumeli) | Former cabinet minister Saviour Kasukuwere. (Photo: Wikimedia)

An ally of Zimbabwe’s former leader, Robert Mugabe, has appealed against a court ruling that has banned him from contesting the nation’s August general elections.

Saviour Kasukuwere (52), a government minister and political commissar under Mr Mugabe before the latter was ousted from power by the military, was one of 11 candidates approved by the Zimbabwe election commission to run in the presidential poll. Mr Kasukuwere fled Zimbabwe after Mr Mugabe’s removal from office.

Zimbabwean anti-sanction Activist Rutendo Matinyarare spoke to Radio Islam International. He said it was incompetence on the part of Kasukuwere as he had not been in the country for more than 24 months.

The Zimbabwe high court has now barred Mr Kasukuwere from running as an independent candidate on the grounds that he had lived outside of Zimbabwe for the last 18 months, which made him ineligible to contest the August 23rd poll.

Matinyarare said Kasukuwere, who once was in the Robert Mugabe Government when the Constitution, failed to comply with the rules.

“It is the same rules for him here in South Africa. If he wants to remain as a permanent resident, he has to be in the country for 24 months on a continuous basis and if he is not, he loses his residency,” says Matinyarare.

Meanwhile, election tension has risen as alleged opposition have been banned from holding rallies.

Matinyarare said the Commissioner of Police stated it’s unfair for the media to run around with that allegations when permits are not granted to certain people. The government is trying to prevent people from contesting an election.

Listen to the full interview on Your World Today with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie.