Election authorities announced on Saturday that Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa had won a second term in office; however, the opposition disputed the outcome of a poll that foreign observers claimed did not meet democratic norms.
According to official results released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), 80 Mnangagwa received 52.6% of the votes, compared to Nelson Chamisa, 45, who came in second with 44%. According to ZEC chairperson Justice Chigumba, Mnangagwa Emmerson "Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo of ZANU-PF party is declared duly elected president of the Republic of Zimbabwe."
On Wednesday and Thursday, Zimbabweans went to the polls to elect the country's president and legislature. The voting process was hampered by delays, which led the opposition to charge that there had been voter suppression and vote-rigging.
A few governing party supporters cheered in celebration when the presidential results were announced at the news conference site. The final tally, according to Promise Mkwananzi, a spokeswoman for Chamisa's Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), was deemed "false" since the party did not sign it.
He told AFP, "We cannot accept the results," and that the party will soon announce its future steps. The poll was being observed throughout southern Africa as a test of Mnangagwa's ZANU-PF's popularity, whose 43-year reign has been weakened by a stagnant economy and accusations of tyranny.
The elections did not meet regional and international norms, according to foreign poll observers who reported their findings on Friday. The prohibition of opposition demonstrations, problems with the voter list, slanted state media coverage, and voter intimidation were among the issues that observer missions from the European Union, Commonwealth, and the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) raised.
"The elections were fraught with irregularities and aggrieved the people of Zimbabwe," political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said. "The CCC has good grounds to go to court and challenge the outcome".
Mnangagwa received more than 2.3 million votes, while Chamisa received more than 1.9 million, according to ZEC's Chigumba. The president avoided a run-off by receiving more than half of the votes cast. The voter turnout was 69%.
Mnangagwa, known as "The Crocodile" due to his brutality, originally assumed power in 2017 following a coup that toppled the late dictator Robert Mugabe.
He barely defeated Chamisa for the first time a year later in an election that the opposition leader branded fraudulent and that was followed by a bloody crackdown.
Due to delays in the production of vote papers in certain important districts, notably the opposition stronghold Harare, voting this week was forced to extend into an unusual second day.