Zimbabwe president Mnangagwa to be inaugurated on Sunday
Zimbabwe’s president-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa will be inaugurated for a five-year term on Sunday‚ the foreign affairs ministry said on Tuesday.
Mnangagwa beat Nelson Chamisa‚ leader of the MDC Alliance in last month’s general elections‚ and won 50.8% of the vote. Chamisa got 44.3%.
The foreign affairs ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Mnangagwa’s inauguration would take place on Sunday 12 August at 10.30am at the National Sports Stadium in Harare.
The ministry said it was extending an invite to the heads of diplomatic missions‚ international organisations and consulates that have offices in Harare to attend the inauguration ceremony.
Mnangagwa’s win in the election has already been endorsed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa‚ Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza‚ Tanzania’s President John Magufuli and Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The endorsement of Mnangagwa’s win by various leaders increasingly threatens to reduce the strength of any challenge that Chamisa intends to mount in order to overturn the victory.
At a press briefing on Monday‚ Chamisa’s spokesperson Nkululeko Sibanda said the MDC Alliance was planning to mount a court challenge to overturn the results of the election. The alliance said it would make use of the “overwhelming evidence” it had and bring that before the courts‚ said Sibanda.
Earlier on Tuesday‚ Chamisa tweeted that he was ready for the “inauguration and formation” of the next government. He has refused to accept the election result.
“I’ve just finished going through the evidence per our agents and V11 forms from across Zimbabwe. We won this election emphatically. ZEC’s figures are falsified and inflated in favour of the outgoing president. We are ready for the inauguration and formation of the next government‚” he said on his official Twitter account.
Meanwhile‚ Thokozani Khupe‚ leader of the MDC-T‚ an opposition party that in February this year broke away from the MDC that Chamisa leads‚ said it accepted the outcome of the presidential results.
“We want to get Zimbabwe back to its former glory. My plea is that let us unite and move this country forward‚ because we all want a better life. I think that there is always a next time. I as Thokozani Khupe did not do well this time around and I hope and trust that come 2023 I will also do the best that I can‚ so that I am elected the president of Zimbabwe‚” Khupe said.
“I am very happy that I came third regardless of whatever happened. I have demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that I can also beat men; I beat 17 other men.”