Zimbabwe: general Elections date fixed for July 30

Zimbabweans will be voting their new president, members of the national assembly and councillors

It is now official, Zimbabwe will hold its general elections on July 30, 2018. Incumbent President, Emmerson Mnangagwa made the announcement on Wednesday May 30, 2018. The country has exactly two (2) months  to organise the election of its president, the election of members of the national assembly and the election of councillors.

President Mnangagwa who took over from 94-year-old former President, Robert Mugabe who was forced to resign last November has promised to deliver free and fair elections to win over Zimbabwe’s critics at home and abroad.

The electoral commission would be set to work immediately and the electoral laws shall be respected to the fullest he added, promising that observers from national and international organizations shall be welcomed and treated accordingly.

Some key figures who would be missing from the July 30 presidential election will be Zimbabwe’s foremost political gladiators, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the former Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party leader who died recently from cancer, precisely last February.

The presidential election of Zimbabwe will pit incumbent Mnangagwa against a clutch of opponents including 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Speaking in a brief statement in an official government gazette, President Mnangagwa said he personally fixed the date of July 30 for the triple elections, the first after the army forced Mugabe out of power, and Prospective candidates will be registered on June 14, 2018.

The 75-year-old  Mnangagwa will be seeking a victory that will give him a fresh mandate and the legitimacy that will strengthen his political hand after Mugabe was ousted in a coup.

Nicknamed ‘Crocodile’ for his secretive and insular demeanor before taking office. He goes into the election with the advantage of incumbency. President Mnangagwa has promised to break with Mugabe’s policies and says Zimbabwe is opening up to foreign investors.

It should be noted that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has officially applied for Zimbabwe to re-join the Commonwealth organization which it left in 2013 under the reign of Robert Mugabe. He has also invited the groupings of former British  Colonies to send observers to its general elections billed for July 30. The Commonwealth organization had suspended Zimbabwe over accusations of having flawed elections in 2012.

The last presidential election in Zimbabwe took place in July 2013 and saw a landslide victory of the ruling Zanu PF party with 61.09% of the votes that earned Robert Mugabe a five (5) mandate. It was the first election with a new constitution approved during a referendum in March 2013.

Since independence of Zimbabwe in 1980, the country introduced a democratic, non racist electoral system and has had seven (7) presidential elections in 1980, 1985, 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008 and 2013.