Political analyst Professor Ibbo Mandaza believes that independent presidential hopeful and former Zanu PF national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere will contest in the upcoming general elections.
On Wednesday, High Court judge Justice David Mangota ruled that Kasukuwere failed to prove that he had been in the country and his constituency to give him the electoral right to participate in the elections.
In an interview with a South African broadcaster yesterday, Mandaza said Kasukuwere will eventually succeed in the case due to the merits of his argument.
“I think he will get through on the merits of the case and given what is in the public domain, he is a registered voter and to be removed off the register is a whole process under the Electoral Act.
“We have no evidence that we hold so far neither in the court ruling nor in the public domain that Kasukuwere was not ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe,” said Mandaza
He criticized the ruling, suggesting that it went too far by limiting Kasukuwere’s movements both inside and outside the country.
“The ruling in my view went too far in terms of describing that he should not inside or outside Zimbabwe but as you know the appeal has been urgent and things remain as they are until the Supreme Court ruling. The extent which ZEC accepted his nomination and subsequently gazetted it, is evidence that ZEC would have done due diligence.
“Our observation is that the harassment of Kasukuwere by the public media, Zanu PF, by the securocrats has to do more by ensuring that he does not have enough time to campaign before the elections. It is rather clear the ruling came as a shock because for all intents and purposes ZEC’s position was firm enough even though the ruling by the Judge that ZEC having stated that they will go along with the court ruling is very strange situation because ZEC was one of the respondents,” he said
Meanwhile, Kasukuwere’s leading lawyer Harrison Nkomo confirmed that they have since made a Supreme Court appeal against the ruling highlighting that the appeal retains Kasukuwere as a presidential candidate until the Supreme Court rules otherwise.
“After the high court judgment yesterday barring our client from being on the ballot paper for the 2023 presidential election, we successfully filed an appeal in the Supreme Court this morning under SC387/2023. The matric set of that appeal is to suspend a High Court judgment.
“This means that his status has been reverted to the time before the litigation by (Lovedale) Mangwana was instituted meaning he remains on the ballot and is still a presidential candidate for the 2023 harmonized elections,” Nkomo said.
He dismissed social media reports that suggested Kasukuwere remains barred despite the Supreme Court appeal.
“That is incorrect. That appeal suspends the decision of the High Court, and it entitles president Kasukuwere to remain on the ballot. He is a 2023 presidential candidate until such time when any court of competent jurisdiction such as the Supreme Court has ruled that he is not a presidential candidate,” he said.
