Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa was proclaimed the winner of the 2023 presidential elections with an absolute majority of 2,350,711 votes, or 52.6% of the vote.
Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) received 1,906,734 votes, accounting for 44% of the vote.
The election of the 80-year old extends the Zanu-PF’s decades-long strongehold on Zimbabwean politics, which has been the dominating party since the country’s independence in 1980.
Chamasa, 45, had been optimistic about his victory but has now disputed the electoral commission’s results.
It is unclear whether he will file a legal challenge. His party has previously criticized the late deployment of voting materials, which caused widespread voting delays, as well as certain reported anomalies in the voting process.
Voting was extended for a second day in regions of Zimbabwe where voting began late on Wednesday. A presidential decree prolonged voting till Thursday in three provinces, including Harare, the capital and stronghold of Chamisa’s party.
Observers praised the peaceful election process, but it fell short of key regional and international standards.
According to the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), “fundamental freedom were increasingly curtailed” during the election and “acts of violence and intimidation” leading in a “climate of fear” were also witnessed.
Zimbabwean arrested over 40 election observers for allegedly coordinating the publication of results prior to the final tally of results.
