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By Reason Razao | Senor Reporter
OPPOSITION United Zimbabwe Alliance (UZA) president Elisabeth Valerio said she remains unmoved after the High Court reserved a ruling in a case she is appealing against the decision by the Nomination Court to reject her bid to contest in the upcoming general elections.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s (ZEC) decision to reject Valerio’s nomination papers is premised on the ground that the candidate failed to meet the deadline.
According to the arguments in court, the UZA president settled the nomination fee using the RTGS payment system which failed to reflect the amount in ZEC’s bank account on time.
Justice Samuel Deme, who is presiding over the case, on Friday, reserved his ruling adding that he will advise both UZA leader and the ZEC when the judgment is ready.
Valerio in an interview, appealed to the High Court to uphold the principles of justice and fairness.
“We just hope that the law will take its course and that the judge will rule in our favour,” Valerio said.
Her lawyer, Alec Muchadehama earlier on argued that Valerio’s rejection was unlawful.
According to Muchadehama, Valerio complied with section 47 of the Electoral Act which requires an electoral candidate to pay a nomination fee.
“What section 47 simply requires is for a person to put money into the bank and with regards to the application before you (Judge), all she was required to do was to make a deposit into ZEC’s account,” Muchadehama argued.
“The section does not say there shall be a deposit or proof that there is deposited money into an account.”
Muchadehama provided proof that Valerio had paid the required nomination fee, which reflected into ZEC’s bank account on June 22.
The proof was further availed to the nomination officer on June 30.
According to the submission by Muchadehama, the decision to reject Valerio’s nomination bid was prematurely handed down.
In response, ZEC opposed Valerio’s application saying the appeal was not merited.
Zimbabwe is primed to hold its general election on August 23 and 11 candidates are set to tussle for the first office.
