“Zimbabwe is open for business. We are here to protect you. Feel free to walk and open your business. All is well, fear not.”
This was the message blaring from a loudspeaker tied to a police car in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare Friday, hours after incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa claimed a narrow victory over Nelson Chamisa to retain the presidency in the first post-Mugabe election.
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The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission announced late Thursday that 75-year-old Mnangagwa, known as “The Crocodile,” had won with 50.8 percent of the vote, avoiding a runoff. Chamisa, 40, racked up 44.3 percent of the vote.
But Chamisa and his MDC Alliance rejected the result Friday, vowing to mount a legal challenge. Moments before the results were announced at an events center in Harare, a member of the MDC Alliance stormed the stage claiming the results were “fake” and “unverified.” He was quickly removed by armed guards.
Police continued to patrol the streets of the capital Friday after violence erupted Wednesday that left six people dead following the announcement of parliamentary election results.
The MDC Alliance, made up of seven parities and led by Chamisa, complained at the delay in announcing the presidential results, claiming it is a sign of vote-rigging by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
“The Zec scandal of releasing unverified fake results is regrettable,” Chamisa tweeted Friday. “Zec must release proper & verified results endorsed by parties. The level of opaqueness, truth deficiency, moral decay & values deficit is baffling.”
Zimbabwe’s constitution allows for a legal challenge to election results, so Chamisa and the MDC will have an opportunity to make their claims in court.
Mugabe’s legacy
Monday’s vote was accompanied by guarded optimism, marking the first election since Robert Mugabe was ousted from power in a November coup.
However, Mnangagwa, who seized power in the aftermath, has a dark past and was one of Mugabe’s most feared lieutenants during his reign. His election, and the landslide victory of his ruling Zanu-PF party in the parliamentary elections, suggests that Zimbabwe is still tied to its past.
READ: Zimbabwean’s old Mugabe-era fears return with new leadership
Mnangagwa said he was humbled to be elected president, and called for all sides to come together following the divisive vote.
“Though we may have been divided at the polls, we are united in our dreams,” Mnangagwa tweeted. “This is a new beginning. Let us join hands, in peace, unity & love, & together build a new Zimbabwe for all”
But Chamisa and the MDC are not exiting quietly.
Fighting back
In a Thursday press conference before the final result was announced, Chamisa indicated his intention to pursue a legal challenge.
“What they have been trying to do of late is to play around. That is rigging, that is manipulation, trying to bastardize the result, and that we will not allow,” he told reporters.
As well as the delay — which was also criticized by international observers from the EU — Chamisa challenged the ZEC’s assertion that turnout in most districts was above 80 percent, and highlighted the police violence in response to opposition protests in Harare.
“Soldiers are trained to kill during war. Are civilians enemies of the state?” a spokesman for Chamisa said. “There is no explanation whatsoever for the brutality that we saw.”
Cover image: Zimbabwean opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance president Nelson Chamisa speaks on the phone as he leaves after a press conference in Harare, on August 2, 2018. (ZINYANGE AUNTONY/AFP/Getty Images)
