Zimbabwe Elections

General election in Bulawayo

pressure cooker

Premium badgeZimbabwe elections: ZANU-PF claims early lead, observers arrested

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

Voters wait to cast their ballot during the Zimbabwe general elections in Kwekwe, outside Harare. (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

delays, disappointment

Premium badgeZimbabwe elections kick off with chaotic voting process, rigging ploys There were chaotic scenes on Wednesday in Zimbabwe as voting started with most polling stations still waiting for deliveries of indelible ink, and bal...
Zimbabwe election watchdog Team Pachedu has brought out a new app to help voters. (Team Pachedu)

water-tight poll?

Premium badgeIn Zimbabwe, Team Pachedu develops app to counter vote rigging Zimbabwe’s past elections have been marred by allegations of vote rigging by the ruling ZANU- PF party, but a new app called Mandla developed by data ...
President Emmerson Mnangagwa lacks Mugabe’s intellectual flair. (Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo)

crocodile tears

Premium badgeEmmerson Mnangagwa: The ruthless pursuit of power The Zimbabwe president’s life story leaves no doubt that he will stop at nothing to win Wednesday’s election, even though he has tried to erase his in...

Zimbabwe Elections top stories

General election in Bulawayo

pressure cooker

Premium badgeZimbabwe elections: ZANU-PF claims early lead, observers arrested Mnangagwa’s party flouts electoral law by announcing results before the Electoral Commission, following the arrests of 41 poll observers.
Voters wait to cast their ballot during the Zimbabwe general elections in Kwekwe, outside Harare. (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

delays, disappointment

Premium badgeZimbabwe elections kick off with chaotic voting process, rigging ploys There were chaotic scenes on Wednesday in Zimbabwe as voting started with most polling stations still waiting for deliveries of indelible ink, and bal...
Zimbabwe election watchdog Team Pachedu has brought out a new app to help voters. (Team Pachedu)

water-tight poll?

Premium badgeIn Zimbabwe, Team Pachedu develops app to counter vote rigging Zimbabwe’s past elections have been marred by allegations of vote rigging by the ruling ZANU- PF party, but a new app called Mandla developed by data ...

Zimbabwe Elections top stories

General election in Bulawayo

pressure cooker

Premium badgeZimbabwe elections: ZANU-PF claims early lead, observers arrested Mnangagwa’s party flouts electoral law by announcing results before the Electoral Commission, following the arrests of 41 poll observers.
Voters wait to cast their ballot during the Zimbabwe general elections in Kwekwe, outside Harare. (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

delays, disappointment

Premium badgeZimbabwe elections kick off with chaotic voting process, rigging ploys There were chaotic scenes on Wednesday in Zimbabwe as voting started with most polling stations still waiting for deliveries of indelible ink, and bal...
Zimbabwe election watchdog Team Pachedu has brought out a new app to help voters. (Team Pachedu)

water-tight poll?

Premium badgeIn Zimbabwe, Team Pachedu develops app to counter vote rigging Zimbabwe’s past elections have been marred by allegations of vote rigging by the ruling ZANU- PF party, but a new app called Mandla developed by data ...

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© Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa (R), stops to meet and eat with Mr Kwande (L), a baker. (@edmnangagwa twitter)

Empty calories

Premium badgeZimbabwe: Mnangagwa boasts of food security, but WFP says many struggle To lure voters ahead of Zimbabwe’s elections, President Emmerson Mnangagwa says government agricultural programmes have ensured food security.
© Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo holds her book ‘Glory’, shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize for Fiction. (Daniel Leal/ AFP)

orwellian romp

Book Review: NoViolet’s glorious satire of Zimbabwe politics A scared horse sporting a wool scarf and a slightly demented old stallion set the tone for a warped, Zimbabwe-adjacent political satire, ‘Glory’, by N...
Supporters of Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa cheer at a rally in Harare ahead of the 2023 general elections. (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

elephant in the room

Premium badgeZimbabwe: Free, fair election is only way out of alarming debt With the cash-strapped country’s public debt at almost 100% of GDP, one of Zimbabwe’s key challenges remains an obstacle as presidential poll looms.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa arrives to address a ZANU-PF rally in Harare, Zimbabwe, 9 August 2023. (Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo)

crushing dissent

Premium badgeZimbabwe’s ZANU-PF: Liberation party turned oppressor In power for 43 years, the party of Zimbabwe’s former freedom fighters is poised to continue its undemocratic rule, intimidating voters and jailing cr...
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa attends a rally against Western sanctions in Harare, Zimbabwe in 2019. (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

Cosmetic changes

Premium badgeHow Zimbabwe’s charm offensive with the West went south President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vow to make Zimbabwe ‘open for business’ remains a largely empty promise on the eve of new elections.
© Youths look at posters outside polling stations prepared ahead of general elections in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 2018. (Reuters/Mike Hutchings)

fresh faces

Premium badgeYouth vote will be the game changer in Zimbabwe’s elections If the 23 August polls in Zimbabwe are free and fair, youth participation will be the deciding factor of who rules the country, analysts say.