HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was re-elected, advised those questioning the election results to take their case to court. The opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, referred to the election as a “gigantic fraud”. The election commission announced on Saturday that Mnangagwa won with 52.6% of the vote, while Chamisa received 44%.
Mnangagwa assumed office after the military coup that toppled Robert Mugabe in 2017. His first term was characterized by high inflation, currency shortages, and soaring unemployment. He expressed satisfaction with the election outcome, stating, “I competed with them and I am happy that I have won the race.” This statement was made at State House in the presence of heavy police security in certain parts of the capital.
Chamisa, using the social media platform X (previously known as Twitter), denounced the election as a blatant fraud. It remains uncertain whether the opposition will challenge the election results in court, as Zimbabwe’s judges have historically favored the ruling party.
Munjodzi Mutandiri, a political analyst from the Southern Africa Liaison Office, suggested that the opposition would benefit more from taking to the streets rather than resorting to legal action. He stated, “The questions surrounding judicial independence will not remedy the legitimacy challenge posed by the disputed results, just as the perceived partiality and lack of independence of the electoral commission have contributed to this issue.”
Promise Mkwananzi, spokesperson for the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), released a statement asserting that the official results differed from the opposition’s tallies. He declared, “The CCC has initiated a comprehensive citizen’s review of the vote count.”
An observer team from the Southern African Development Community remarked that the voting process was peaceful but identified certain concerns such as voting delays, the prohibition of rallies, biased state media coverage, and the electoral commission’s failure to grant candidates access to the voters’ roll.
Mnangagwa accused the observer mission of exceeding its mandate, stating, “I am aware that some observer missions went beyond their call of duty.”
(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono, Writing by Carien du Plessis, Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Nick Macfie)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
