Zimbabwe will have to wait a little longer before finding out who its next president will be, with the results from just one province standing in the way of a formal outcome.
As it stands, with one of the 10 provinces outstanding, incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zanu PF has a lead of several hundred thousand votes over the MDC Alliance’s Nelson Chamisa.
According to figures announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on Thursday night, Mnangagwa had 2,147,506 votes compared to Chamisa’s 1,929,685. Only the results from Mashonaland West were outstanding – and it was hoped they would be finalised by around 12pm.
Mashonaland West, a rural province, is a traditional Zanu-PF stronghold.
In the order they were announced by the ZEC, the number of votes received by Mnangagwa and Chamisa, per province, were:
- Harare Metropolitan (urban): Mnangagwa 204,710 votes; Chamisa 548,880 votes
- Masvingo (rural): Mnangagwa 319,073 votes; Chamisa 171,196 votes
- Mashonaland East (rural): Mnangagwa 334,617 votes; Chamisa 189,024 votes
- Matabeleland South (rural): Mnangagwa 107,008 votes; Chamisa 90,292 votes
- Bulawayo Metropolitan (urban): Mnangagwa 60,168 votes; Chamisa 144,107 votes
- Matabeleland North (rural): Mnangagwa 111,453 votes; Chamisa 137,611 votes
- Mashonaland Central (rural): Mnangagwa 366,785 votes; Chamisa 97,097 votes
- Midlands (rural): Mnangagwa 350,754 votes; Chamisa 255,059 votes
- Manicaland (rural): Mnangagwa 292,938 votes; Chamisa 296,429 votes
This is a developing story.
