Mnangagwa wins second term as Zimbabwe president

Emmerson Mnangagwa, the President of Zimbabwe, has won re-election for a second term in office.

The electoral commission said Mnangagwa polled 52.6% of the votes cast.

Nicknamed “The Crocodile” for his ruthlessness, Mnangagwa is Zimbabwe’s third president.

He became leader after a 2017 coup that ousted Robert Mugabe who had ruled the southern African nation for 37 years.

According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), Nelson Chamisa, candidate of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), secured 44% of the vote.

Mnangagwa received more than 2.3 million votes, while Chamisa garnered 1.9 million, ZEC said.

Voter turnout in the country of almost 16 million was 69%.

The constitutional court has upheld the result of the election, amid claims of widespread rigging from the opposition.