Thursday, June 04, 2026
Zimbabwe holds presidential and parliamentary elections in which the top two contenders, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, have promised to revive an economy ruined under Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule. Mnangagwa, nicknamed 'the Crocodile,' took over as president after the army ousted Mugabe in a bloodless coup last November. He has pledged to revive a moribund economy, attract foreign investment and mend racial and tribal divisions. Chamisa, a 40-year-old lawyer and pastor, is a charismatic speaker who is winning over young and unemployed voters frustrated by nearly four decades of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) rule. About 5.5 million people were registered to vote in the southern African nation anxious for change after economic and political paralysis during the nearly four-decade rule of 94-year-old Mugabe. Thousands of election monitors have fanned out across the country to observe a process that the opposition says is biased against them despite electoral commission assurances that it will be credible. A record of more than 20 presidential candidates and nearly 130 political parties are participating. If no presidential candidate wins 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held on September 8
