pressure cooker

Zimbabwe elections: ZANU-PF claims early lead, observers arrested

By Veneranda Langa

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Posted on August 25, 2023 09:10

General election in Bulawayo
A ZEC election officer inspects a voter’s name in the voters’ roll during the Zimbabwean harmonised elections at Emakhandeni Secondary School in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, August 23, 2023. REUTERS/KB Mpofu

Mnangagwa’s party flouts electoral law by announcing results before the Electoral Commission, following the arrests of 41 poll observers.

In a midnight press conference on 24 August, Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party announced that it had won the 2023 election. This goes against Zimbabwe’s Electoral Act, which states that no announcements may be made ahead of the official results from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

Just hours before, police arrested 41 election observers, including a 19-year-old, from the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and the Election Resource Centre (ERC). They were charged with tabulating election results.

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