Photo Credit: Daily Express

Several civil society groups collating results from the 10,985 polling units in parallel with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) say it is too early to declare a winner from Monday’s presidential election in the country as the contest was looking very close.

The ZEC also said the winner of the election between incumbent president Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ZANU-PF party and his closest rival, Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would be announced within five days.

On Monday, the 75-year-old Mnangagwa who is viewed as the frontrunner took to his Twitter handle to disclose that information from his representatives on the ground was looking very positive.

“Good morning Zimbabwe. I am delighted by the high turnout and citizen engagement so far. The information from our reps on the ground is extremely positive! Waiting patiently for official results as per the Constitution,” Mnangagwa tweeted.

Mnangagwa’s main opposition, 40-year-old Chamisa also tweeted on Tuesday, declaring that election results from more than 10,000 polling stations showed that the MDC had done ‘exceedingly well’.

“Awaiting ZEC to perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people’s election results and we are ready to form the next government,” Chamisa said on Twitter.

“I am delighted by the high turnout and citizen engagement so far. The information from our reps on the ground is extremely positive! Winning resoundingly…We now have results from the majority of the over 10, 000 polling stations.

“We’ve done exceedingly well. Awaiting ZEC to perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people’s election results and we are ready to form the next gvt. #Godisinit,” he added.

In Harare, the country’s capital which is an MDC stronghold, results posted outside some polling stations seen by reporters showed Chamisa winning by wide margins but Mnangagwa is expected to narrow the gap in the ruling ZANU-PF rural heartland areas.

Urban results tend to emerge quicker than those from rural outposts where communication is poor even as votes counting was still ongoing in some rural constituencies in the east and south of the country.

Whoever wins the election which is the first since long-ruling Robert Mugabe was ousted in a bloodless coup in November 2017, faces an uphill task of putting Zimbabwe back on track after 37 years of Mugabe’s rule tainted by corruption, mismanagement and diplomatic isolation.

The run-up to Monday’s vote was largely peaceful compared to past elections under Mugabe, where the ruling party and war veterans were accused of violence against opponents.

Dozens of people were killed ahead of a runoff in 2008 between Mugabe and MDC-founder, Morgan Tsvangirai who died of cancer in February.

Mugabe emerged on the eve of the election to announce he would vote for the opposition, surprising Mnangagwa who swiftly accused him of striking a deal with Chamisa.

There would be a runoff on September 8 if none of the candidates wins more than half of the counted votes.