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Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks to the media in Harare, on Aug. 27, 2023.
Hard Numbers: Zimbabwe election results, deadly attack in Haiti, British Museum recovery, valuable mug shot, chasing reindeer
52.6: President Emmerson “Crocodile” Mnangagwa claimed victory in Zimbabwe’s recent election with 52.6% of the vote, beating his main rival, Nelson Chamisa, according to official results announced late Saturday. The opposition is refusing to accept the results, claiming widespread voting irregularities.
7: At least seven people were killed in a gang attack on a Christian protest in Haiti. Gang violence has increased dramatically since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, and criminals now control up to 80% of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince.
2,000: The British Museum says it has recovered some of the 2,000 items believed to have been stolen by an insider over a long period of time. The thefts – which led to the recent resignation of the museum’s director – included 3,500-year-old gold jewelry, gemstones, and antiquities, some of which were found for sale on eBay.
7,000,000: Say cheese. The campaign of Donald Trump says it has raised over $7 million since he was booked in Georgia on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election and became the first-ever former US president to have a mug shot.
500,000: Norway is building a fence at a cost of €500,000 to stop its Sámi reindeer herds from crossing into Russia. Sounds costly, but this should save Oslo money, as Russia has demanded compensation of €6,700 per reindeer plus a lump sum of nearly €6.3 million for the days the animals have grazed on the Russian side of the border.
Locals wait to cast their votes during the Zimbabwe general elections in Kwekwe, outside Harare, Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s election: neither free nor fair
After a chaotic 24 hours that saw delays reported in many parts of the country, voting was extended in Zimbabwe’s presidential election this week. Some voters said they waited for more than 10 hours on Wednesday after many polling stations ran out of paper. At least 30% of voting centers in Harare, the capital, reportedly haven’t had access to core materials needed to operate.
Extending the vote, presumably so everyone has a chance to cast a ballot, aims to give the election – the second since Zimbabwe gained independence after white colonial rule in 1980 – a perception of fairness, though observers say the vote has been anything but.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the incumbent who leads the Zanu-PF Party formerly helmed by longtime despot Robert Mugabe, has been accused of stifling dissent and hamstringing the opposition in the lead up to the vote. Opposition forces and their supporters have been locked up, while Citizens Coalition for Change, the main opposition party led by lawyer and preacher Nelson Chamisa, has been banned from holding events. Meanwhile, in rural areas, voters have reportedly been beaten and harassed, forcing them to vote for the ruling party.
Still, there are signs that Zanu-PF is worried about the election outcome – which could go to an October runoff if no one reaps more than 50% of the vote.
If Mnangagwa wins, the CCC is likely to contest the outcome in court. The problem, however, is that the courts have been stacked with regime loyalists, which could give way to a period of prolonged instability and violence.
A man looks at the banner of Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Zimbabwe vote marred by apathy and disappointment
Zimbabweans are heading to the polls today, but few voters are feeling enthusiastic about the direction of their country. It’s only the second time that Zimbabwe is holding a vote since the ousting of longtime despot Robert Mugabe in 2017, but hopes that the southern African country of 15 million could undergo a democratic rebirth have largely dissipated.
Some quick background. Zimbabwe, a British colony until gaining independence in 1980, was ruled by liberation fighter-turned-autocrat Robert Mugabe until he was overthrown in a coup in 2017. At the time, most Zimbabweans rejoiced, hoping for a new dawn of economic growth and opportunity after years of corruption and oppression under the Mugabe regime.
But since then, Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, Mugabe’s former deputy known as "the crocodile" due to his ruthlessness, has forced himself on the Zimbabwean people, coming to power in 2018 in an election broadly seen as a sham. Mnangagwa, a former guerilla fighter, was sentenced to death during white Colonial rule, but was ultimately able to escape that fate, serving a 10-year prison term instead, because he was under the age of 21. It was in prison that Mnangagwa and Mugabe met.
Most analysts say there’s no chance that today’s vote will be free or fair. Indeed, authorities have shut down recent rallies led by the Citizens Coalition for Change, the main opposition party led by Nelson Chamisa, 45, and arrested its supporters. Internet connections have also been slashed, limiting voters' access to key information.
The situation could not be more dire for the southern African state, where unemployment is pervasive, inflation is in the triple digits, and, according to some estimates, 90% of workers toil in the informal economy due to a dearth of investment and jobs. Zimbabwe is resource-rich, but decades of corruption, mismanagement, and underinvestment have meant that ordinary people have not benefited from mineral exports.
Crucially, Zimbabwe’s healthcare system is in tatters, and the government has stonewalled doctors and nurses from leaving the country in pursuit of higher salaries.
Outsiders are watching. Back in 2018, Mnangagwa used the military to quash dissent, resulting in at least six deaths. The US and EU have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwean individuals and entities as a result of the regime’s gross human rights abuses – and will be watching closely to see if there are more post-election clampdowns. And then there’s China, a major stakeholder in the Zimbabwean economy that has also helped transform it into a mini surveillance state.