Zimbabwe’s opposition presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa claimed to be “winning resoundingly” in his bid to unseat incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Chamisa made the claim in an early morning tweet Tuesday as official results of the election held Monday were being awaited.
“We now have results from the majority of the over 10,000 polling stations. We’ve done exceedingly well,” Chamisa, a lawyer and member of parliament said in his Twitter message.
Read his tweet:
Winning resoundingly…We now have results from the majority of the over 10 000 polling stations. We’ve done exceedingly well. Awaiting ZEC to perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people’s election results and we are ready to form the next gvt.#Godisinit
He added that he was waiting for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to “perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people’s election results” and said his MDC Alliance party was ready to form Zimbabwe’s next government.
There’s been no report from the ZEC, other than an earlier press conference where elections chief Priscilla Chigumba said 70 percent of all registered voters went to the polls.
Turnout was heavy in this first election since former president Robert Mugabe left the office he held for 37 years, and reports from Harare and beyond described long and sometimes frustrating lines.
Chamisa tweeted about this problem after voting on Monday: “Victory is ours! Long winding queues in most parts of Harare. There seems to be a deliberate attempt to suppress and frustrate the Urban vote. Good turn out but the people’s will being negated & undetermined due to these deliberate & unnecessary delays.We are in because #Godisinit”
For his part, Mnangagwa – the ZANU PF candidate snubbed by Mugabe on the eve of the election – thanked citizens for their patience as they waited for results that only the ZEC was authorised to give them.
In addition to the closely watched presidential race, Zimbabwe is electing local and parliamentary governments.
*First reported by AfricaTimes
