Zimbabwe elections: Mnangagwa wins second term
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has declared incumbent president Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner of the elections held on August 23.
The representative of the ZANU-PF secured 52.6% of the votes, while his main challenger Nelson Chamissa of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) party had 44%.
The opposition say the results declared on Sunday are not authentic, arguing that the elections were rigged. The CCC has said they will announce their next move.
Emmerson Mnagagwa, 80, is only the second president Zimbabwe has had since independence from the British in 1980. He took over from long-serving president Robert Mugabe, who had ruled for 37 years. The veteran leader was forced out of office in a coup in 2017. He later passed away in September 2019.
Little has changed in Zimbabwe since the arrival of Mnangagwa in November 2017. The South African country is still facing extreme poverty, unemployment and high inflation.
Eleven candidates participated in the 2023 elections, with a total of 4,468,668 voters casting their ballots out of the 6,623,511 who registered. The electoral commission said it recorded a 68.9% turnout.
