Former Zimbabwe government minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who sought to challenge President Emmerson Mnangagwa in upcoming elections, has been barred from contesting.

A Harare high court judge has invalidated Mr Kasukuwere's application to contest as an independent candidate mere weeks after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission accepted his registration papers.

Lawyer Lovedale Mangwana challenged the body's decision in court, arguing that Mr Kasukuwere was no longer a registered voter - a criterion for a candidate - as he had lived outside Zimbabwe for longer than 18 months.

Mr Kasukuwere is key a Mugabe loyalist who served as a Zanu-PF political commissar and minister of youth and indigenisation in the ex-president's government.

He fled the country in the aftermath of the military coup that ushered President Emmerson Mnangagwa to power in 2017.

He returned briefly in 2018, but fled again to South Africa citing political persecution.

General elections will be held in Zimbabwe on 23 August.