The leader of the opposition Citizen’s Coalition for Change, Nelson Chamisa has expressed his utmost disgust over the elections outcome, labelling it as a “blatant and gigantic fraud.”
Chamisa’s outburst came after the electoral commission declared the incumbent Emerson Mnangagwa as duly elected.
According to the electoral commissioner, Justice Chigumba, President Mnangagwa of the ZANU-PF polled 2.3 million of valid votes cast, representing 52.6%, while the Nelson Chamisa of the opposition Citizen’s Coalition for Change (CCC), garnered over 1.9 million of votes cast, representing 44%.
The president, in this case, avoided a run-off by receiving more than half of votes cast.
Due to delays in the distribution of voting logistics at some polling centers, and the extension of voting day as a result of the delays, the announcement of the elections’ outcome, came in earlier than anticipated.
According to Chamisa, the results were “hastily assembled without proper verification,” and that his party never acknowledged the results that came in, due to concerns that they had raised earlier.
“We knew we were going into a flawed election. We have a flawed voters roll, a flawed delimitation report. We had a flawed ballot. It was a flawed electoral environment. We have won this election. We are the leaders. They stole your voice and vote but never your hope. It’s a blatant and gigantic fraud.”
Nelson Chamisa, Leader of Citizens’ Coalition for Change.
On the other hand, Emerson Mnangagwa played down all accusations during his victory speech at the Presidential palace, and entreated his accusers to take legal actions.
“I did not conduct these elections. I think those who feel the race was not run properly know where to go to complain.”
Emerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe.
He asserted that the elections were conducted “transparently, fairly, in broad daylight.”
However, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres also expressed his dissatisfaction over the events leading up, and during the elections.
The Secretary-General claimed that, he noticed “the arrest of observers, reports of voter intimidation, and threats of violence, harassment, and coercion.”
In a press release, Guterres admonished all sides to “peacefully settle any disputes through established legal and institutional channels and resolve disputes in a fair, expeditious, and transparent manner to ensure that the results are a true reflection of the will of the people”.
According to observers from International Right Organizations, the incumbent had an upper hand over the opposition, due to a massive crackdown on the opposition in the run-up to the elections.
Also, observers from the Commonwealth, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), and the European Union (EU), all insisted that, the elections did not meet both regional and international standards.
They pointed to several anomalies including the prohibition of opposition gatherings, problems with the voters register, biased state media coverage, and voter intimidation.
According to Rejoice Ngwenya, a political expert, “the CCC has good grounds to go to court and challenge the outcome.”
On the contrary, President Mnangagwa thanked the “various election observation missions who have been witnessing our electoral processes without bias.”
However, he also addressed the allegations and said, “we have demonstrated that we are a mature democracy.”
“As a sovereign state, we continue to call on all our guests to respect our national institutions.”
Emerson Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe.
Per a local resident, he’s yet to carefully examine the elections outcomes. “We accept them for as they are, it’s the decision of the majority and we respect it,” he said.
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