Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court rejected a case on Wednesday alleging that President Robert Mugabe [Britannica profile] is unfit to hold office because of his age, holding that the applicant failed to follow proper court filing procedures. Mugabe, who has been in office since 1980, will turn 93 [Al Jazeera report] this month. Promise Mkwananzi, part of the Tajamuka movement [Facebook page], filed the application with the court and has 30 days to refile the application properly. The group criticized the dismissal [statement], saying: “This should never have been the case as the constitution says that the court should not be technical in constitutional applications. In essence, the judges conveniently avoided to look into the strong evidence presented before them.” Although many critics are calling for Mugabe to step down, members of the ZANU-PF political party have said they want him to run again next year.

The Zimbabwe government has faced criticism and legal action in the past. In October the Harare High Court in Zimbabwe upheld [JURIST report] a 30-day ban against protests in the capital, despite calls from Amnesty International for the ban to be lifted. In February of last year the chief prosecutor of Zimbabwe was charged with obstructing justice [JURIST report] after he dropped a case against the men accused of plotting to bomb a dairy operated by members of Mugabe’s family. In 2015 the EU General Court upheld sanctions [JURIST report] placed on individuals and companies in Zimbabwe.