Leader of Zimbabwe’s main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Nelson Chamisa, said he was surprised when the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner of the recent harmonised elections.
On Saturday night, chairperson of ZEC Priscilla Makanyara Chigumba announced that Mnangagwa had retained the presidency by a 52.6 percent margin.
A total 11 candidates were vying for the State House in Zimbabwe.
Reacting to the election results announcement, Chamisa insisted he had defeated Mnangagwa.
“What are the next steps, what should the nation expect? There is going to be change in Zimbabwe,” Chamisa addressed local and international journalists in Harare.
“Whether Zanu-PF people want it or not, it is not going to be easy but there shall be change. We will not wait for five years, there has to be change now and we are going to lead in making sure that change comes to Zimbabwe,” he said.
“Whatever it takes, we shall provide leadership.”
Chamisa described Mnangagwa’s victory as another “coup on the ballot”.
“You cannot survive this for far too many times. This time, no further. We have drawn a line in the sand, we will not allow you to abuse people. You are not the only and last Zimbabwean. We are all Zimbabweans. We all count, we all matter and we will make sure we take our stand and we defend democracy,” he said.
“It is clear we are rejecting the election as a sham, the results. The process itself we disregard it and that is in line with what the SADC observers have said. We reject this sham result and flawed process based on the disputed figures.”
Millions of Zimbabweans flocked to polling stations on Wednesday and Thursday last week to elect the southern African nation’s president, members of the legislature and councillors.
On Wednesday, Mnangagwa through a special proclamation extended voting by another day after long delays marred the first day of voting at different polling stations.
Long queues were seen at several polling stations across Zimbabwe on Wednesday - the first day of the elections - as millions of Zimbabweans lined up to participate in the tightly contested general elections.
According to figures released by ZEC, Mnangagwa scored 2,350,111 votes, in the tightly-contested elections, beating Chamisa who garnered 1,967,343 which translates to 44 percent of the vote.
The number of total votes cast in the harmonised elections was 4,561,222 and the ZEC announced that there were more than 90,000 spoiled votes.
Meanwhile, Namibia’s President Hage Geingob has congratulated Zimbabwe’s President-elect, Mnangagwa and the ruling Zanu-PF following their announced victory in the recently-held “peaceful” harmonised elections.
On behalf of the people and Government of the Republic of Namibia, I extend warmest congratulations to @edmnangagwa on his re-election as President of Zimbabwe. I also extend felicitations to @ZANUPF_Official our sister party, on the victory in the peaceful elections of 23-08-23. pic.twitter.com/cRzzdBm32c
— Dr Hage G. Geingob (@hagegeingob) August 27, 2023
On Sunday, the Namibian leader, Geingob was one of the first regional leaders to congratulate Mnangagwa, describing the elections as “peaceful”.
“On behalf of the people and government of the Republic of Namibia, President Hage G. Geingob extended (on Sunday) 27 August 2023 warm congratulations to the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, His Excellency Comrade Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa,” Geingob's spokesperson, Dr Alfredo Hengari said in a statement.
“President Geingob also extended through President Mnangagwa fraternal felicitations to Zanu-PF, the sister party of SWAPO (the South West Africa People's Organisation), on the victory in the peaceful harmonised elections held on August 23,” he said.
“President Geingob further said that the the re-election of His Excellency Comrade Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa was indeed a testimony of the trust and confidence in which the people of Zimbabwe continue to repose in President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF,” said Hengari.
“President Geingob wished President Mnangagwa good strength and wisdom in carrying out his renewed mandate and looked forward to working closely with President Mnangagwa to further deepen and strengthen our bilateral cooperation as well as advancing the shared regional development agenda.”
IOL