People wanting to stand as candidates ahead of Zimbabwe’s presidential and parliamentary elections, due to be held in August, were told to pay their electoral deposits in cash.
This came after the electoral commission’s payment system failed, meaning that some candidates’ fees could not be processed. The commission extended the deadline to pay deposits by one day, following the crash of its system.
This comes after an astronomical rise in electoral deposits.
In 2018, those wanting to stand in the presidential election had to cough up a deposit of US$1 000. This has now increased to US$20 000. For those wanting to stand as parliamentary candidates, their deposits jumped from US$50 to US$1 000.
Zimbabwean opposition politicians and activists have complained that the increase in fees was designed to reduce political participation in the election.
[Image: Gordon Johnson from Pixabay]