Emmerson Mnangagwa pull off narrow win in Zimbabwe election

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has won the Zimbabwe Elections according to official results.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, who seized power from President Robert Mugabe in a coup last year after serving as his enforcer for decades, took a clear lead on Thursday in Zimbabwe’s disputed presidential election, suggesting that the nation’s dominant party was poised to continue its control of the government.

With all 10 provinces declared, Mr Mnangagwa 50.8% of the vote to 44.3% for opposition leader Nelson Chamisa.

Police removed opposition officials from the electoral commission stage when they rejected the results.

The chairman of Mr Chamisa’s MDC Alliance said the count could not be verified.

By winning more than 50% of the vote, Mr Mnangagwa avoided a second run-off election against Mr Chamisa.

Mr Chamisa has insisted he has won the presidential poll, telling reporters on Thursday the ruling Zanu-PF party was “trying to bastardise the result”, something that “we will not allow”.

But the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) said there was “absolutely no skulduggery”.

Opposition supporters protested in Harare over alleged vote-rigging, which led to six deaths on Wednesday.