Harare, 02 September, 2023 / 9:00 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic Bishops in Zimbabwe are calling on aggrieved political parties following the August 23-24 general elections to seek redress through legal processes.
Zimbabwe’s opposition party, Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), has disputed the declaration of the incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner of the presidential race in the elections and called for “a fresh and … proper election” and African mediation.
On August 26, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared President Mnangagwa of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) winner of the Presidential poll, with approximately 53 percent of the vote, against 44 percent that CCC’s Nelson Chamisa garnered.
“In the spirit of peace and love after elections, we call upon all the aggrieved parties to redress their grievances following the legal procedures,” members of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) say in their Thursday, August 31 statement.
ZCBC members also urge Zimbabweans to shun all forms of post-election violence. They “advocate for peace and condemn all forms of actions that may disrupt the post-election peaceful environment.”