Chamisa claims he’s confirmed Zanu-PF stole Zimbabwe’s election

MDC-Alliance opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has remained defiant that he is the true president of Zimbabwe and claims that he now has clear evidence that the ruling Zanu-PF stole the election with the help of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

He said on Tuesday: “I’ve just finished going thru the evidence per our agents & V11 forms from across Zimbabwe.We WON this election emphatically. ZEC’s figures are falsified & inflated in favour of the outgoing President.We are ready for the inauguration & formation of the next gvt #Godisinit.”

https://twitter.com/nelsonchamisa/status/1026769636577210368

He has considered himself the rightful winner from before elections even took place.

On Friday he insisted that he won the country’s landmark election, calling the official results “fraudulent, illegal, illegitimate and characterised by serious credibility gaps”.

“We won this election and we are ready to form the next government,” Chamisa told a press conference, after President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling Zanu-PF was declared victor with 50.8 percent of the vote.

Zimbabwean riot police had earlier entered the Harare hotel on Friday to break up Chamisa’s press conference. They carried shields and tear gas cannisters at the Bronte Hotel in the capital.

However, the press conference was eventually allowed to go ahead.

Chamisa alleged that the vote rigging this time around was “poorer” than under Mugabe. “The numbers don’t add up. Mugabe was at least sophisticated.”

He referred to Emmerson Mnangagwa as the “outgoing president”, and said that according to the observations of the MDC-Alliance’s own observers the MDC had won as much as 56% of the vote.

The official result put the MDC at 44%.3.

Chamisa told reporters he would not attend Mnangagwa’s inauguration. “He is the one who should attend my inauguration.”

He said they would be challenging a number of election results, and had taken legal advice on doing so. He was not yet prepared to reveal all his evidence, but would do so in time.

The party is yet to go to court, though.

He added that he was in the process of “getting in touch with President Cyril Ramaphosa” to step in and help them. Chamisa said he would fill the South African president in on the truth of what had actually happened, in the hope that he might intervene and rectify the matter.

I’m UNSHAKEN & UNMOVED. By God’s grace we WON. God’s promises are sure & true. Get ready to behold the NEW. Change is coming! I’m fortified by Job 19:25..For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth.#Godisinit.

— nelson chamisa (@nelsonchamisa) August 5, 2018

Meanwhile, 27 MDC supporters were released on bail on Tuesday over alleged violence at last week’s post-election protests that triggered a security crackdown.

Mnangagwa has vowed to protect rights since his re-election but the opposition say their members have been targeted.

“We are very pleased obviously that they have been released,” defence lawyer Denford Halimani told AFP following the hearing at Harare’s magistrates court.

Prosectors had opposed bail, saying the accused — 19 men and eight women — were “linked” to the deaths of six people when the army opened fire on opposition supporters protesting against alleged election fraud.

At least five of the accused are polling agents who had been visiting MDC headquarters to hand in polling returns and collect travel expenses, according to the defence.

Halimani said that the 27 were required to post bail of $50 (43 euros) and have to report to Harare police station on Friday, but were not forced to surrender their passports.

“The magistrate said the state seemed not to be prepared,” he said, adding that they would return to court on September 4 for a bail review.

“We have advised them to lay low and not to engage in any activities that might result in other charges. This system thrives on harassing people.”

The 27 denied the charges.

Wednesday’s bloodshed sparked an international outcry and raised grim memories of post-election repression under Mugabe before he was ousted last year.

Mnangagwa has accused the MDC — the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) — of fomenting the unrest, but also said he would set up an independent commission to investigate the killings.

The MDC has also accused the security forces of abducting and beating opposition activists and their families since the knife-edge election result was declared early Friday.

EU, US warn Zimbabwe over post-election crackdown

The European Union and United States on Tuesday condemned violent attacks targeting the Zimbabwe opposition since elections last week, as 27 supporters of the MDC party were released on bail.

“The eruption of violence… stand(s) in sharp contrast to the high hopes and expectations for a peaceful, inclusive, transparent and credible election,” said a joint statement from the EU, US, Canada and Switzerland.

It called for the government “to ensure that the Zimbabwean Defence Forces act with restraint, in full respect of international human rights norms”.

The MDC has accused security forces of abducting and beating opposition activists and their families since the election result was declared early Friday.

Mnangagwa, who says any fraud allegations should be raised through the courts, said on Twitter that “transparency and accountability remain paramount. And despite the naysayers, in this new Zimbabwe, freedom will reign.”

Night raids by masked men

Human Rights Watch reported several cases of beatings and harassment by soldiers in Harare’s suburbs — MDC strongholds — with soldiers in groups of four to 10 attacking people in bars and restaurants.

In the early hours of Sunday, six masked men broke into the house of MDC youth leader Happymore Chidziva, pointed a rifle at a woman’s head and slapped and kicked her, it said.

The 27 MDC supporters arrested over alleged violence at last week’s deadly post-election protests were bailed Tuesday.

“We are very pleased obviously that they have been released,” defence lawyer Denford Halimani told AFP following the hearing at Harare’s magistrates court.

Prosectors had opposed bail, saying the accused — 19 men and eight women — were “linked” to the deaths of the six people when the army opened fire on opposition supporters protesting against alleged election fraud.

At least five of the accused are polling agents who were visiting MDC headquarters to hand in polling returns and collect travel expenses, according to the defence.

The 27, who deny all charges, were required to post bail of $50 (43 euros) and to report to Harare police station on Friday,.

“We have advised them to lay low and not to engage in any activities that might result in other charges. This system thrives on harassing people,” Halimani said.

Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s former right-hand man who took power with military backing in November, has accused the MDC of fomenting the unrest, but he also said he would set up an independent commission to investigate the killings.

The MDC is expected to soon launch a legal challenge over the election result, in which Mnangagwa won 50.8 percent of vote, just scraping in above the  50 percent run-off threshold.