Mnangagwa wins Zimbabwe presidential election

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has announced the results of all ten provinces in the race for the presidency after Monday’s elections , with incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zanu PF winning 50.8% of the vote, compared to Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance’s Nelson Chamisa’s 44.3%.

Chamisa won Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, Harare and Manicaland.

Mnangagwa won Moshonaland East and Central, Matabeleland South, Masvingo and Midlands. He also won the the rural province of Mashonaland West, whose results were the last to come in. It came as no surprise since the province is known to be a ZANU-PF stronghold.

Analysts say it appears that Chamisa has not done enough to unseat Mnangagwa from his rural support base.

In a shock impromptu media conference, two men claiming to be members of the MDC Alliance addressed the waiting media at the results centre, alleging that they had not been able to verify the results. The man claiming to be the MDC Alliance’s chief polling officer said they reject the results of the election.

Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has echoed calls from the Secretary General appealing for calm in Zimbabwe.

“We’re very concerned by what it is that we are seeing and we need to investigate the details. The Secretary General himself has appealed for calm and we would echo this and we are watching and monitoring it very carefully. Clearly, if there are reports and there seem to be of excessive use of force, these need to be investigated and need to be curtailed and stopped at the earliest possible opportunity. And so we’re watching it as everyone else is.”

The polls were marred by violence on Wednesday, which claimed six lives.