from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Bureau
HARARE, (CAJ News) – THE Zimbabwe African National Union –Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) ruling party leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa has been re-elected president of Zimbabwe.
The ZANU-PF candidate won a second term with 52,6 percent (over 2,23 million votes) of the polls.
He defeated ten other candidates, including his main rival, Nelson Chamisa, leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
Chamisa received 44 percent (1,96 million).
More than 4,4 million Zimbabweans participated in the elections, with a turnout of more than 68 percent.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced the election outcome at the National Results Centre in the capital, Harare, late on Saturday.
It was a dramatic day in the South African country, starting with some men said to be state agents disrupting a press conference by the CCC in the capital.
Later in the day, it was announced Mnangagwa would hold a conference at the State House but it was shelved.
The ZEC also kept the nation waiting as the results were announced some four hours later than initially scheduled.
Priscilla Chigumba, ZEC chairperson, announced the outcome after 23h30.
It ended speculation on a nation that eagerly awaited an outcome days after Zimbabweans held polls that were characterised by glitches, particularly the shortage of ballot papers, particularly in the two major cities of Harare and Bulawayo.
International observers, including those from the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) questioned the conduct of the poll.
– CAJ News