The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe ruled Friday that former minister Savior Kasukuwere is disqualified from running as a presidential candidate in the country’s August elections.

Lovedale Mangwana, litigant for the nation’s ruling political party Zanu-PFF, contended that Kasukuwere was outside of Zimbabwe for the past 18 months and was ineligible to be on the ballot for the upcoming August 23 elections. Also included in the lawsuit were the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Justice.

Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court, the African nation’s second-highest court, concluded that Kasukuwere was ineligible to be on the presidential ballot due to section 23(3) of Zimbabwe’s Electoral Act. Section 23(3) provides for the disqualification of political candidates who are ineligible to be voters in the constituency in which they are running for office. Section 23(3) has a 12-month residency requirement for eligibility as a voter and therefore has a 12-month residency requirement for political candidates in a constituency.

Voice of America reported that Kasukuwere, who currently resides in South Africa, will appeal the case to Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court.

The ruling Zanu-PFF has been criticized by both journalists and opposition political groups for “capturing the courts” following the rulings. In early July, the Citizen’s Coalition for Change (CCC),  Zanu-PFF’s main opposition, was barred by local police from holding a campaign launch near the nation’s capital, a bar which was upheld by the nation’s courts. On Thursday, a high court in Bulawayo disqualified 12 CCC parliamentary candidates due to alleged late filing of nomination paperwork, even though Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission argued the CCC candidates submitted their papers on time.