Zimbabwe’s incumbent president Emmerson Mnangagwa has won the country’s first presidential election after the ouster of former president Robert Mugabe.
The Zanu-PF candidate took the win by securing 50.8% of the votes compared to the opposition leader’s Nelson Chamisa’s 44.3%.
According to the country’s electoral commission, 75 year old Mnangagwa garnered 2.46m votes compared to 40 year old Chamisa who managed 2.15m votes, with all 10 provinces being declared.
Police removed opposition officials from the electoral commission stage when they rejected the results.
The chairman of Mr Chamisa’s MDC Alliance said the count could not be verified.
The 50.8% win helped Mnangagwa avoid a run-off election against Chamisa.
Mnangagwa took over as president last November from long-serving leader Robert Mugabe.
On Wednesday, troops backed by armored vehicles and a military helicopter were sent in to crush demonstrations by stone-throwing opposition supporters who said Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF party had rigged the elections.
The following day, soldiers ordered civilians off the streets of the capital, despite calls from foreign governments and international organizations for calm and for political leaders to show restraint.
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