President Mnangagwa to be sworn in

Harare (New Ziana) – President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa will be sworn into office on Monday for his second and last five year term, officials said at the weekend. M
He was re-elected late last month, beating off a challenge from ten other presidential aspirants.

But his closest challenger, opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa is disputing the outcome of the election, and is pressing for a re-run.

President Mnangagwa was declared winner with 52.6 percent of the vote, while Chamisa came a distant second with 44 percent.

But the opposition leader has failed to petition the court to overturn the result, as allowed by the constitution, within the stipulated time period, paving the way for Monday’s inauguration.

In the last election in 2018, Chamisa also disputed the outcome of the vote, and tried to overturn it in court.

The Constitutional Court, however, dismissed his electoral challenge, and upheld President Mnangagwa’s victory.

This time around, Chamisa appears to have avoided the legal route, and is instead pressing regional countries to rule the vote null and void on the basis of his party’s claims of electoral irregularities.

But he appears to be standing on shacky ground as most countries in the region have not only accepted the results of the election, and congratulated President Mnangagwa, but the majority have indicated they would attend the inauguration.

Some of these leaders arrived in Zimbabwe on Sunday, ahead of Monday’s swearing-in ceremony.
New Ziana