Harare, (Samajweekly) Businesswoman Elizabeth Valerio has joined the race in Zimbabwe’s presidential election after the High Court ordered the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to register her as a candidate for the August 23 poll.
The leader of the United Zimbabwe Alliance becomes the only female candidate to battle it out with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and 10 others, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
ZEC, which had disqualified her on nomination day on June 21 for submitting partial bank proof of payment for the required nomination fees, was ordered to register her as a contestant, the news agency New Ziana reported.
The High Court said ZEC had made a mistake in refusing to accept her nomination papers and ordered it to take all necessary steps to ensure that she was registered and her name appeared on the presidential ballot paper.
New Ziana said Valerio’s lawyer Alec Muchadehama told journalists that she would contest in the presidential race.
Former cabinet Minister and political commissar in the ruling ZANU PF Saviour Kasukuwere, who intends to contest the presidential election as an independent candidate, is yet to be sure if he will be able to do so.
Although ZEC accepted his nomination papers, the High Court later upheld an application by a private citizen seeking to disqualify him on the basis that he had been out of the country for more than 18 months continuously and had therefore ceased to be a registered voter.
He, however, appealed the ruling at the Supreme Court, which means that he remains in the running until the superior court decides on his eligibility to contest.
