Zimbabwe is facing fresh turmoil after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the winner of the country’s first election since the downfall of Robert Mugabe but the opposition party quickly rejected the official count.
The ZANU-PF leader, known as The Crocodile, defeated his rival Nelson Chamisa by more than a quarter of a million votes in a poll marred by violence, bloodshed and accusations of fraud.
Chamisa, the candidate of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), performed strongly in the urban strongholds of Harare and Bulawayo but Mnangagwa outpaced him in rural Zimbabwe, the official results showed.
The MDC launched an impromptu protest minutes before the final province declared its result, taking the stage to say the results were ‘fake’ and could not be verified.
Posting on Twitter, 75-year-old Mnangagwa hailed a ‘new beginning’ and called for ‘peace, unity and love’ after he was declared the winner.
Six people died after troops fired at demonstrators during a protest against alleged electoral fraud on Wednesday, leading the army to clear the centre of ‘ghost city’ Harare on Thursday.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa (left) has defeated opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa (right) in Zimbabwe’s first post-Robert Mugabe election
Zimbabwe’s Justice Priscilla Chigumba (centre) addresses media representatives as she announces the results of Zimbabwe’s presidential election in Harare
Supporters of President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling ZANU-PF party celebrate his re-election at the Harare International Convention Centre in the early hours of Friday
Emmerson Mnangagwa thanked his supporters on Twitter after being declared the winner
Mnangagwa, who won six of the country’s 10 provinces, needed more than 50 percent of the vote to secure victory without a second-round run-off.
Announcing the results, Commission chair Priscilla Chigumba urged the country to ‘move on’ with the hopeful spirit of election day – which passed with little trouble – and beyond the ‘blemishes’ of Wednesday’s chaos.
The official tally put Mngangawa on 2.46million votes (50.8 per cent) and Chamisa on 2.15million (44.3 per cent), after an election which had been intended to move the country on from the Mugabe era.
Mnangagwa said on Twitter: ‘Thank you Zimbabwe! I am humbled to be elected President of the Second Republic of Zimbabwe.
‘Though we may have been divided at the polls, we are united in our dreams. This is a new beginning. Let us join hands, in peace, unity & love, & together build a new Zimbabwe for all!’
But Opposition MDC spokesman Morgan Komichi rejected the count, saying: ‘The results that have been announced have not been verified by us… so the results are fake.’
Meanwhile justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi paid tribute to the President and said ‘the majority of Zimbabweans are working with us, save for a few who want to incite violence.’
The President said on Twitter that he wanted an independent investigation into the killings, and that he sought to settle differences ‘peacefully’.
But Chamisa said the result was being faked, accusing the government of turning tanks and guns on voters and saying police had raided opposition headquarters in the capital and seized computers.
On Thursday, soldiers guarded the headquarters of ZANU-PF, while armoured personnel carriers, water cannon trucks and police anti-riot vans took position outside MDC headquarters.
ZANU-PF supporters celebrate their candidate’s victory in Harare early on Friday morning
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson Priscilla Chigumba announces the results of the country’s presidential election in Harare
Riot police block a road leading to the MDC headquarters in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Thursday
Nelson Chamisa addresses members of the media at a hospital where protesters are treated
The streets of Harare are deserted on Thursday as the country awaits the election results
Zimbabwean troops are pictured in the deserted capital of Harare amid the disputed election
‘What they have been trying to do of late is to play around,’ MDC leader Chamisa told reporters on Thursday.
‘That is rigging, that is manipulation, trying to b******ise the result, and that we will not allow.’
Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told a press conference on Thursday that the death toll after Wednesday’s protests had risen from three to six after further protesters succumbed to their injuries.
There were 14 injured, police said, and 18 people were arrested at the offices of the main opposition party amid tensions over the election.
Soldiers and police cleared central Harare on Thursday, shouting at pedestrians and traders to leave the area.
Western election observers who were banned in previous votes have expressed concern at the military’s ‘excessive’ force in the capital.
The president, who has called on the opposition to ‘lose gracefully’, said observers had told him they are ‘disappointed with the events of yesterday.’
A Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officer sits in a police truck in Harare on Thursday
Riot police stand across a road leading to the headquarters of the opposition MDC today
While the military has been criticised for the crackdown, police spokeswoman Charity Charamba blamed rioters, saying some were drunk and that they destroyed eight cars and 22 shops.
About 4,000 opposition supporters, some carrying iron bars and stones, were ‘besieging’ downtown Harare, she said.
The vote on Monday was meant to mark a new chapter after the end of the Mugabe era.
Mnangagwa had promised a free and fair vote after the military ushered him to power with a credible vote meant to end Zimbabwe’s international isolation and attract foreign investment to revive the shattered economy.
But anger flared on Wednesday over alleged vote-rigging, prompting troops to use live rounds on protesters.
The presidential race has pitted 75-year-old Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s former ally in the ruling ZANU-PF party, against the MDC’s leader, Nelson Chamisa, 35 years his junior.
Members of the Zimbabwean armed forces pictured in Harare following the protests
An Zimbabwean army truck is seen as the country waits for the results of the election
Soldiers brandishing assault rifles and police shouted at pedestrians and traders to leave central Harare, AFP journalists witnessed.
In a late-night press conference on Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu warned further protests would not be tolerated.
‘The opposition… are testing our resolve and I think they are making a big mistake,’ he said.
Chamisa ratcheted up pressure, saying he had won the presidential vote and that the result was being faked.
‘What they have been trying to do of late is to play around… that is rigging, that is manipulation, trying to bastardise the result, and that we will not allow,’ he told reporters.
In official results from the parliamentary election, also held on Monday, ZANU-PF won easily – suggesting Mnangagwa would be on course to retain the presidency.
Of 210 parliamentary seats, 207 have been counted with ZANU-PF winning 144 and the MDC Alliance just 61.
Opposition supporters tear down a Zanu-PF banner supporting President Mnangagwa
Opposition supporters hold up a placard in support of their candidate Nelson Chamisa
The MDC said the army had opened fire on Wednesday ‘for no apparent reason,’ killing unarmed civilians.
‘It’s disappointing – the government’s reaction only made things worse. It was heavy-handed,’ trader Timie Manuwere, 37, told AFP.
‘But I didn’t expect things to really change much with the elections. It was highly unlikely these guys would just give up power after eight months.’
Election observers from the Commonwealth issued a statement Thursday to ‘denounce the excessive use of force against unarmed civilians’ while former colonial power Britain appealed for Zimbabwe to remove the army from the streets.
Before the violence, European Union observers declared they found an ‘un-level playing field and lack of trust’ in the election process. Under Mugabe elections were often marred by fraud and deadly violence.
ZEC chairwoman Priscilla Chigumba, a high court judge, has flatly rejected allegations of bias and rigging.
Mugabe, 94, voted in Harare on Monday alongside his wife Grace after he stunned observers by calling for voters to reject ZANU-PF, his former party.
Opposition MDC party supporters protest in the streets of Harare during clashes with police
MDC supporters protest outside the offices of Zimbabwe’s election authorities in Harare
Mnangagwa was a longtime Mugabe ally before his firing in November led his allies in the military to step in and push Mugabe to resign after 37 years in power.
The campaign and polling day were lauded as relatively peaceful and open.
Mnangagwa was the clear election front-runner, benefitting from tacit military support and state resources. But Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor, sought to tap into the youth and urban vote.
Mnangagwa was allegedly involved in violence and intimidation during the 2008 elections when then opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the run-off after attacks claimed the lives of at least 200 of his supporters.
The president must now tackle mass unemployment and an economy shattered by the Mugabe-backed seizure of white-owned farms, the collapse of agriculture, hyperinflation and an investment exodus.
Previously solid health and education services are in ruins and millions have fled abroad to seek work.
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