MDC-T uncover serious anomalies

Zimbabwe's main opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has criticised the provisional voters' roll even as President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared July 30 as the General Election date.

MDC said it had uncovered serious anomalies in the registers that were bound to undermine the credibility of the General Election.

"The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) denied us the voters' roll, insisting that people should do individual inspection, after we noticed some anomalies," MDC acting chairperson Morgan Komichi told journalists.

"These anomalies justify why we have been calling for an independent audit of the voters' roll."

Military takeover

ZEC chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba said nomination courts will sit 14 days after the proclamation of the election date.

The keenly-awaited July 30 vote will choose a substantive leader after former ruler Robert Mugabe's ouster six months ago.

President Mnangagwa, who took over from the 94 year-old Mugabe after a brief military takeover in November last year, set the election date in a government gazette on Wednesday.

He said in case the presidential election did not produce a winner, a run-off would be held on September 8, 2018.

President Mnangagwa, a long-time ally of Mr Mugabe, has promised a break from Zimbabwe's culture of disputed elections as he seeks to gain legitimacy after the coup.

"We have said time and again we will hold free and fair elections and we are fulfilling this commitment," he tweeted on Monday after his government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the European Union (EU) for the body to deploy an observer mission for the first time in 16 years.

"In this new era of freedom and hope, we welcome all our international partners to come and celebrate Zimbabwean democracy in action."

Zimbabwe has a long history of disputed polls and the country's has been under Western economic sanctions for two decades following accusations of election rigging and violence.

Main contenders

President Mnangagwa's announcement of the election date followed the conclusion of the inspection of the provisional voters' roll, which began on May 19.

ZEC said 100,000 new voters had registered during the 10 day period.

Before the latest exercise, ZEC had said 5.4 million people had registered since the biometric voter registration (BVR) exercise began in October last year.

President Mnangagwa, 75, will face the 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, the leader of MDC who is backed by a coalition made up of seven parties.

It will be in the first Zimbabwean presidential election since 2002 without Mr Mugabe and the late Morgan Tsvangirai as the main contenders.