 |
| Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa |
Emmerson Mnangagwa, a former spy chief installed after Robert Mugabe’s removal in a coup in November, won Zimbabwe’s presidential election after a poll marred by the deaths of six people in an army crackdown on opposition protests.
After two days of claims and counterclaims, the 75-year-old incumbent secured a comfortable victory, polling 2.46 million votes against 2.15 million for 40-year-old opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.
Earlier in the week, soldiers beat and shot at opposition protesters after Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Mr Chamisa claimed he had won the โpopular voteโ and accused Zanu-PF, the ruling party, of fraud.
Police raided MDC offices and detained 18 people while a search warrant suggested Mr Chamisa and others were suspected of the crimes of โpossession of dangerous weaponsโ and โpublic violenceโ; Mr Mnangagwa has publicly accused his opponent of inciting violence.
