Parly okays nomination fees

Farirai Machivenyika

Senior Reporter

The Parliamentary Legal Committee yesterday issued a non-adverse report on Statutory Instrument 144 of 2022 that set the nomination fees for presidential and parliamentary candidates  at US$20 000 and US$1 000 respectively.

The ruling by the PLC was announced by acting Speaker of the National Assembly Cde William Mutomba in the chamber yesterday. 

The decision by the PLC was issued by following a directive by the Constitutional Court after hearing an application that said the amount of money required was beyond the reach of some candidates.

Zimbabwe is set to hold harmonised elections on August 23 while candidates are expected to file their papers at the Nomination Court on June 21.

The Government gazetted Statutory Instrument 144 of 2022 which set nomination fees for those intending to contest in elections.

The gazetted fee for a presidential candidate was pegged at US$20 000 and US$1 000 for MPs resulting in Nationalists Alliance Party (NAP) leader Devine Mhambi Hove challenging the nomination fees at the Constitutional Court.

The apex court ruled that Parliament had breached the Constitution by not looking at whether the statutory instrument 144 of 2022 was in contravention of the Constitution before passing it.

The court had given Parliament up to Friday to finalise the matter.

In an interview yesterday, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said National Assembly was expected to discuss and even vote if the fee was to stand or not.

Minister Ziyambi said the processes that were expected to unfold today were for Parliamentary Legal Committee to table a report on the constitutionality of Statutory Instrument 144 of 2022.