Zimbabwe Elections

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.

Zimbabwe Elections top stories

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party Citizen Coalition For Change (CCC) supporters stand outside Bindura Civil Court in Bindura, Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe, 9 July,2023. (Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo)

Revving for redo

Premium badgeZimbabwe: CCC approaches SADC to push for fresh polls After the Zimbabwean presidential inauguration, the opposition CCC is engaging SADC countries to support its demands for new elections.
© A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the general election in Luveve township, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, August 23, 2023. REUTERS/KB Mpofu

voter intimidation

Premium badgeRural voters in Zimbabwe tell of death threats and intimidation As observer reports emerge citing widespread voter intimidation in rural areas by ZANU-PF and collusion by the NEC, The Africa Report provides an eyew...
A voter casts her ballot at a polling station in Nkulumane township, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe 23 August 2023. REUTERS/KB Mpofu

Illegal practices

Premium badgeIn Zimbabwe, election observer missions red-flag elections Ruling party ZANU-PF is accused of resorting to illegal practices to ensure that President Emmerson Mnangagwa secures a second term in office.

Zimbabwe Elections top stories

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party Citizen Coalition For Change (CCC) supporters stand outside Bindura Civil Court in Bindura, Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe, 9 July,2023. (Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo)

Revving for redo

Premium badgeZimbabwe: CCC approaches SADC to push for fresh polls After the Zimbabwean presidential inauguration, the opposition CCC is engaging SADC countries to support its demands for new elections.
© A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the general election in Luveve township, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, August 23, 2023. REUTERS/KB Mpofu

voter intimidation

Premium badgeRural voters in Zimbabwe tell of death threats and intimidation As observer reports emerge citing widespread voter intimidation in rural areas by ZANU-PF and collusion by the NEC, The Africa Report provides an eyew...
A voter casts her ballot at a polling station in Nkulumane township, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe 23 August 2023. REUTERS/KB Mpofu

Illegal practices

Premium badgeIn Zimbabwe, election observer missions red-flag elections Ruling party ZANU-PF is accused of resorting to illegal practices to ensure that President Emmerson Mnangagwa secures a second term in office.

Join a global community who rely on us for insight into power, markets and people on the continent.

Join Now
Residents of Mabvuku, a high-density suburb in Harare, Zimbabwe, waiting for former World Boxing Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr at a rally to drum up support for ZANU-PF. (Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo)

punch drunk

Premium badgeFloyd Mayweather throws weight behind ZANU-PF, even though he can’t vote Floyd Mayweather Jr flew in by private jet and wore the Mnangagwa scarf. But after the thrill is over, Mabvuku residents still have no water.
African National Congress secretary-general Fikile Mbalula (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

back a buddy

Premium badgeANC’s anti-West Mbalula openly backs ruling party in Zimbabwe election Zimbabwe makes it difficult for its diaspora to vote. Did the ANC just make it even less appealing by endorsing President Emmerson Mnangagwa?
Family and friends: President Mnangagwa’s protectors and business promoters. (Montage JA)

tentacular reach

Premium badgeZimbabwe: Who’s who in Mnangagwa’s power base? From the Belarusian president to his own son, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa surrounds himself with cunning dealmakers to prolong his grip on...
The electoral road is littered with obstacles for the CCC’s Nelson Chamisa and his party. (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

faking it

Premium badgeZimbabwe: Opposition says electoral fraud favouring ZANU-PF Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the CCC, has made accusations that damage the credibility of the country’s highly anticipated polls.
Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) is playing the anti-corruption card. Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) is playing the anti-corruption card. (Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo)

dirty money

Premium badgeZimbabwe elections: Has Chamisa found a chink in Mnangagwa’s armour? A damning Al Jazeera documentary on gold trafficking in Zimbabwe has given Nelson Chamisa a chance to vaunt his anti-corruption agenda ahead of his el...
Zimbabwe President and ZANU-PF leader Emmerson Mnangagwa

free and fair

As the Carter Center heads to Zimbabwe, when should election observers stay at home?  International election observers are on their way to Zimbabwe for the 2023 general election. Teams from the European Union, Carter Centre and the Afri...