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President Emmerson Mnangagwa has cruised to victory in Zimbabwe’s elections, according to results from the electoral management body, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
Results announced late Thursday night from the 10 provinces in the country show that Mnangagwa led his nemesis, MDC Alliance candidate Nelson Chamisa by 313,027 votes.
The results from all the provinces showed that Mnangagwa garnered a total 2 460 462 votes against Chamisa’s 2 147 436.
This meant Mnangagwa garnered 50.8 percent of the vote, as compared to Chamisa's 44.3 percent.
Chamisa emerged the winner in the capital Harare, with 548,889 votes against incumbent Mnangagwa, who garnered 204,710 votes.
The opposition leader also fared well in Manicaland, where he got 296,429 votes against Mnangagwa’s 292,938.
In Masvingo, Mnangagwa trounced Chamisa, getting 319,073 against 171 196, while in Mashonaland East, the Zanu PF presidential candidate got 334,617, whereas Chamisa managed 189,024.
Mnangagwa got the popular vote in Matabeleland South, where he garnered 107,008 against Chamisa’s 90,292.
In Bulawayo, Mnangagwa suffered a knock, as he managed a measly 60,148 against Chamisa’s 144,107, while in Matabeleland North, Chamisa thumped Mnangagwa again, getting 137,611 votes against Mnangagwa’s 111,452.
In Mashonaland Central, Mnangagwa roared back to life, getting 366,785 votes against Chamisa’s 97,097.
In Midlands province, Mnangagwa also had a massive come back, getting 350,754 votes against Chamisa’s 255,059.
The last result was Mashonaland West, a known Zanu PF stronghold, which was announced after midnight on August 2, where Mnangagwa got 312,958 votes against Chamisa’s 217,732.
ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba declared Mnangagwa as the winner of the election.
There was a fracas at the election national command centre in Harare in the early hours of Friday morning as opposition MDC Alliance representatives besieged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) national command centre, denouncing the election result.
Earlier, Zimbabwe police confirmed the deaths of six people following violent post-election protests which rocked Harare on Wednesday.
Zimbabwe police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said a total of a total of 22 shops had been damaged in Harare during the skirmishes while eight vehicles which were in the central business district were damaged.
Charamba appealed for calm, calling on political leaders not to make irresponsible statements.
The chairman of the opposition MDC Alliance, Morgan Komichi, has called the elections “fraudulent” and said the party would challenge the results in court.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says he called Mnangagwa on Friday morning to congratulate him on being elected the new president of Zimbabwe.
Mnangagwa said he was “humbled” by the win, the first after the fall of his former mentor Robert Mugabe,
“Though we may have been divided at the polls, we are united in our dreams,” President Mnangagwa said on Twitter.
