Independent presidential candidate and former Zanu PF national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere is seeking to overturn the High Court ruling that barred him from participating in the upcoming elections.
The disqualification ruling, which is being contested at the Supreme Court has raised eyebrows and sparked controversy, is now at the center of another heated legal battle as Kasukuwere alleges that the presiding judge, Justice David Mangota, had received perks from the Government leading to a perceived conflict of interest.
Speaking during a press conference on Friday, Kasukuwere’s chief election agent and spokesperson Jacqueline Sande said Justice Mangota’s ruling ought to be rescinded.
“The Supreme Court granted an order for the appeal which was noted by President Saviour Kasukuwere to be heard on an urgent basis the timelines were set and the matter is due to be heard on the 27 July 2023 at 2.30pm. However, in the meantime, President Kasukuwere felt that it was essential to challenge the route judgement in the matter on the basis that the judge who gave it did not give a competent order because he was biased so this is the application that we have filed before the court.
“That the judgement itself be rescinded because the judge was biased having received a house from the State prior to making this judgement. In the result we believe that it is my principal’s belief that the judgement cannot stand where the presiding officer is patently biased so this is the application that we have brought before the court in which we hope the Judge will do the honourable thing and set aside the defective ruling that he made in a matter between Lovedale Mangwana and president Saviour Kasukuwere,” said Sande.
Kasukuwere’s team argues that the judgment not only jeopardizes their candidate’s participation in the elections but also raises questions about the credibility of the electoral process.
“It will be unfortunate and it will tarnish the credibility of the upcoming elections if the sitting President is allowed to choose his opponents by using his proxies to obtain defective, unsustainable court orders all in an effort to exclude one candidate from participating. The candidate was deemed proper to stand in the coming elections, his nomination papers were accepted because all was in order.
“Only for one person a well-known Zanu PF supporter to come out challenging the nomination ignoring totally the procedures laid down in the Electoral Act specifically Section 23 Subsection 3 which provides for how someone is removed from the voters’ roll if they are found to not have been resident in the constituency for a period more than18 months.
“The laid down procedure was not followed and this was totally ignored in the judgment which we are now challenging on the basis that it is patently defective and cannot be allowed to stand where we believe it is influenced by the kick back in the form of a house bought for the judge so we have since filed an application and we are waiting to prosecute this case,” said Sande.
Without revealing the exact dates, Sande said Kasukuwere’s return to the country was imminent.
