US Casts Doubts On Zimbabwe’s Presidential Election Results

By Samuel Ouma [caption id="attachment_108226" align="alignnone" width="624"] President Mnangagwa will be serving a second term as President of Zimbabwe.Photo credit Reuters[/caption] The US has expressed alarm over the outcome of Zimbabwe's elections, which saw President Emmerson Mnangagwa re-elected for the second and final term. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on August 26, 2023, declared Mnangagwa, 80, a winner in a hotly contested with over 2.3 million votes. Mnangagwa’s main challenger Nelson Chamisa garnered 1.9 million votes as per the commission. However, the American government has condemned what it termed as the systematic bias against the opposition, saying President Mnangagwa went against his vow to respect the rule of law, transparency, and accountability during pre-election period. In a statement, the Department of State said that reports from respected society groups indicate that the electoral commission pressured the observers to sign altered polling station result forms. “We call on the ZEC to make the disaggregated polling station results publicly available to increase confidence in the result tabulation process,” read the statement in part. Additionally, Joe Biden’s administration castigated the intimidation and disruption of lawful election observers throughout the electoral period. The Zimbabwean government arrested personnel from respected civil society groups conducting legitimate election observation in compliance with the Electoral Act on August 23. According to the US, the arrests prevented efforts to independently verify ZEC's announced results, a fundamental component of democratic processes worldwide. “Threats directed against members of the SADC Electoral Observation Mission are dangerous, and we call upon the Government of Zimbabwe to cease these inflammatory and unacceptable attacks,” said the Department of State. The US government said it will reach out to regional leaders to find ways of engaging with President Mnangagwa. At the same time, United States implored Zimbabweans to maintain peace and pursue their grievances through established legal channels. The opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) rejected the results, saying the elections were flawed.