The country's parliament has approved plans to charge candidates for president US $20,000 and parliamentary hopefuls $1,000 to appear on the ballot in the country's general elections, scheduled for August.
The nomination fees that presidential candidates and those running for parliament will have to pay are a 20-fold increase from those charged in the previous elections in 2018.
During a debate on the issue in parliament, representatives of the ruling ZANU-PF party underlined that this policy is aimed at ensuring that only strong candidates run for office. The officials received parliamentary approval on Wednesday following a ruling by the Constitutional Court last week that lawmakers must debate it.
However, opposition party the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), in turn, stated that the decision undermines the right to stand for office, seeking to reduce the fees before the June 21 registration deadline.
General elections in Zimbabwe are scheduled to take place on August 23, 2023. President Mnangagwa, elected in 2018, will be seeking a second term in office. The 80-year-old head of state has led Zimbabwe since a coup of 2017, when the military forced former President Robert Mugabe to resign.
Mnangagwa's main rival is Nelson Chamisa, who leads the newly formed opposition party the CCC. In the 2018 elections he came second, winning 44% of the vote.