Zimbabwean politician, Saviour Kasukuwere has announced his interest to run for the presidency in general elections slated for 23rd August.
Kasukuwere, who was a strong voice under former president Robert Mugabe, said in a statement that he had “accepted the call to run for president of the Republic of Zimbabwe.”
The 53-year-old Kasukuwere, who has been exiled in South Africa since the November 2017 coup, said
he would be standing as an independent candidate because the ruling Zanu PF failed to hold an elective congress in December 2017, after the removal of Mugabe.
The ex-minister also accused the Zanu-PF of “politics of exclusion” which he said was unfair towards those who were loyal to Mugabe.
“We continue to experience exclusionary politics and the persecution of members who were loyal to president Robert Gabriel Mugabe. It is unacceptable that the so-called new dispensation has exiled myself and many other comrades over one key disagreement about how the internal succession process ought to have been handled,” he said.
“We can not afford to continue to be divided by binary and toxic politics. Our motherland is hurting and needs all hands-on-deck. My candidacy is for all Zimbabweans; including those marginalised and frightened in Zanu-PF and those in and outside other political formations,” he added.
Last week, Zimbabwean lawmakers upheld the proposal for presidential and parliamentary candidates to pay $20,000 and $1,000 respectively as charges and qualification fee before running.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled to hold on August 23.
The President of Zimbabwe is elected using a two-round system. A candidate must be 40 years of age and resident in the country before qualifying to run for the top job.