ZIMBABWE’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been elected to a second term with 52.6% of the vote, the electoral commission says.
However, the opposition claimed there had been widespread vote-rigging and international observers said the vote fell short of democratic standards.
Mr Mnangagwa is only Zimbabwe’s second president. A 2017 coup against veteran ruler Robert Mugabe put him in charge.
Zimbabweans still face high inflation, poverty and a climate of fear.
When he first became president, Mr Mnangagwa – known as “The Crocodile” for his ruthlessness – promised a new start for his country’s people.
But Zimbabwe had one of the highest inflation rates in the world last month – prices in July had rocketed by 101.3% since the previous year. Unemployment also remains rife, with only 25% of Zimbabweans holding formal jobs.
Mr Mnangagwa’s vow to guarantee human rights also appears hollow, with little changing in this regard since Mr Mugabe’s departure.
Critics say the 80-year-old silenced dissent and clamped down on the opposition in the run-up to the vote, which he had been widely-expected to win.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said Mr Mnangagwa’s main challenger, Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) candidate Nelson Chamisa, secured 44% of the vote.
Mr Mnangagwa received more than 2.3m votes, while Mr Chamisa took 1.9m, according to the ZEC. Voter turnout in the country of almost 16m was 69%, the electoral body said.
The opposition claims the vote was rigged, but the constitutional court has upheld the result.
