By Staff Reporter
Zimbabwe finally has a female Presidential aspirant after United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA) leader Elisabeth Valerio was given a greenlight by the High Court to have her name on the ballot paper.
The High Court upheld her appeal against the decision by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to initially reject her nomination papers on deadline date.
She becomes the 12th candidate on the ballot and will face off an all male list that include incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa, opposition Citizens Coalition Change leader Nelson Chamisa among others.
Speaking to journalists after the ruling, Valerio’s lawyer, Alec Muchadehama said the electoral board has been advised to take necessary steps to makes sure that she is added to the ballot ahead of the August 23 general elections.
“So we had appealed against ZEC’s refusal to register president Valerio on the ballot paper. So our appeal was successful. So the court ruled that what ZEC had done was incorrect.
“So ZEC is supposed to take all necessary steps to make sure that she is registered on the ballot paper and be contesting on the election to be held on August 23,” Muchadehama said.
Valerio had her nomination papers declined on the basis that she failed to meet the payments deadline.
She said she had used the local currency rtgs payment system which failed to reflect in ZEC’s account.
Critics and political analysts have been condemning ZEC’s decision saying it was unlawful considering Valerio had all proof of payments.
