Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been re-elected for a second and final five-year term late Saturday following another troubled vote in the southern African country.
In a late-night announcement in the capital, Harare the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said the 80-year-old Mnangagwa, won 52.6% of the votes in the midweek election, while the 45-year-old main opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, got 44%.
Mnangagwa’s victory meant the ZANU-PF party retained the governmental leadership it has held for all 43 years of Zimbabwe’s history since the nation was re-named following independence from white minority rule in 1980.
Zimbabwe has had just two leaders in that time, long-ruling autocrat Robert Mugabe and Mnangagwa.
An opposition party spokesperson said within minutes of Mnangagwa being declared the winner that they would reject the results as having been hastily assembled without proper verification.
Also, International election observers raised questions over the environment in the buildup to the vote and pointed to an atmosphere of intimidation against Chamisa’s supporters.
The observers said they had specific concerns over a ruling party affiliate organization called Forever Associates of Zimbabwe that they said set up tables at polling stations and took details of people walking into voting booths.
The head of the African Union mission, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, said activities of the body should be declared criminal offenses.
Dozens of local vote monitors also were arrested and taken to court on allegations of subversion that government critics said were trumped-up charges.
