Zimbabwe Votes In High-stake Poll As 'Crocodile' Leader Seeks New Term

Harare, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Aug, 2023 ) :Zimbabweans voted in closely-watched elections in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa is seeking a second term after a campaign tainted by a crackdown on the opposition, fears of vote rigging and public anger at the economic crisis.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, who came to power after a coup that deposed late ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017, squares off against Nelson Chamisa, 45, who leads the yellow-coloured Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party.

Casting his ballot in his home town of Kwekwe, central Zimbabwe, a confident Mnangagwa -- nicknamed the 'Crocodile' for his determination -- told journalists: "If I think I'm not going to take it, then I will be foolish." "Everyone who contests should go into the race to win", he added, sporting his trademark multicoloured scarf.

The opposition is hoping to ride a wave of discontent over the southern African country's economic woes that include graft, high inflation, unemployment and widespread poverty.

But delays in opening some polling stations, especially in the capital, an opposition stronghold, raised opposition concerns.

"Funny games or no funny games our victory is certain," Chamisa said after casting his ballot in a Harare township.

"We are going to have a new government. We are ready to form the next government".

Voting at an elite school in Harare's upscale Borrowdale Brooke, Michael Chitoka, a 27-year-old jobless engineering graduate, hoped to "do away with the current evil system which has made us poor".

"I'd like an honest government, less corruption, more tolerance of other views. Not this idea of 'you're the enemy if you don't agree with everything I say'", said retired lawyer Brian Crozier, 79, as he waited to vote in the same ritzy neighbourhood which counts the country's rich and famous among its residents.

In Harare's oldest suburb Mbare, voters cast ballots in more than a dozen large green tents set up as polling stations on a dusty field facing rundown apartment blocks and empty wooden market stands.

"It's important for me to vote," said Diana Office, in her thirties. Asked if she was hopeful things would improve after the elections, she laughed.

"No," she said. "I'm just here to exercise my right only."