On Friday, Zimbabwe’s primary opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), issued a call for nationwide protests and demanded a rerun of elections, asserting that President Emmerson Mnangagwa had secured a second term in office through fraudulent means.
This appeal from the CCC came just one day after President Mnangagwa declared the election to be valid and cautioned that there would be a crackdown on individuals inciting disorder.
“I warn anybody who may want to bring any chaos in this country we are ready,” he said during a ceremony to open a lithium plant. “Whoever shall preach hate speech will be responsible for their hate speech, our prisons are not full.”
The electoral commission, in a statement issued late on Saturday, announced that President Mnangagwa had garnered approximately 53% of the vote, placing CCC leader Nelson Chamisa in second position with 44%. Mnangagwa’s ruling ZANU-PF party was declared the victor of the parliamentary election but fell slightly short of the two-thirds majority required to amend the constitution.
The credibility of these elections has been scrutinized by analysts, as they were marred by the arrest of vote monitors. In contrast, ZANU-PF has asserted that there were no irregularities, with President Mnangagwa urging those with grievances to seek legal redress through the courts.