Johnathan Paoli
THE main opposition in Zimbabwe, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), announced its rejection of the election results in a statement by spokesperson Promise Makwananzi on Sunday.
Makwananzi said while the CCC is proud of the Zimbabwean people in attempting to vote, these elections were marred by vote suppression and egregious abuse.
In agreement with both the SADC report as well the Election Observer Mission’s preliminary report, the opposition party called into question the legality, fairness and freedom of the recent elections.
The opposition claimed most of its supporters in its strongholds failed to vote when the ZEC failed to timeously distribute voting material resulting in many potential voters returning home without voting.
In addition, Makwananzi said that the conduct of certain individuals, suspected of having ties to the government and the ruling party, further exacerbated an atmosphere of intimidation.
The party went on to say that the failure of the outcomes aligning with the evidence from their V11s as well as the absence of their presidential candidate’s chief election agent’s signature, cast doubt on the entire process.
Mkwananzi said that the party has decided to initiate a comprehensive citizen’s review of the vote count in light of the growing amount of evidence collected from grassroots levels, illustrating the truth about Zimbabwe’s elections.
This follows the results announced by the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairperson, Justice Priscilla Chigumba, declaring the ruling party as the winner of the 23 August elections.
Current President Emmerson Mnangagwa polled 2,350,711 votes to opposition leader Nelson Chamisa 1,967,343, with Zanu-PF also winning a two-thirds parliamentary majority after bagging 136 seats in the National Assembly while CCC took 73.
This would be Chamisa’s second defeat to Mnangagwa after the opposition also claimed that he was cheated in elections held in 2018 that left at least six people dead in post-election violence.
Before announcing the results of the polls, ZEC deputy chairperson, Rodney Kiwa, said the polls had numerous challenges but the commission managed to deliver an election that he said was successful.
The SADC’s Observation mission, headed by former Zambian deputy president Nevers Mumba, as well as representatives of the African Union have criticized the voting process as falling short of the requirements of the country’s constitution and electoral laws.
Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, and Mnangagwa chief election agent, Ziyambi Ziyambi, said that the election results reflect the democratic will of the Zimbabwean people and that this victory would allow Mnagagwa to finalise developmental projects that had been initiated during his previous term of office.
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