Mnangagwa remains president

Emmerson Mnangagwa will remain the president of Zimbabwe with full powers until there is a new president to be sworn in, Zimbabwean foreign minister Sibusiso Moyo said yesterday.The main opposition party in Zimbabwe on Friday filed a legal challenge against the outcome of the country's first election since the forced exit of former president Robert Mugabe in November last year. Zimbabwe's main opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, called on the Constitutional Court to nullify the election results. As a result, the inauguration of Mnangagwa as president is now on hold.Moyo declined to comment on the fact that international election observers as well as opposition parties said the 30 July elections had no credibility.“I will not comment much, because this is something which is in the courts. They have filed a court case and therefore we are going to abide by the court's findings,” Moyo said.He added that Mnangagwa would represent Zimbabwe at the 38th SADC Summit of Heads of State in Windhoek this week.Moyo maintained that the election was the most peaceful, free and fair one that the country had ever seen since the dawn of the Mugabe era in 1980.Moyo also responded to Amnesty International's call on Zimbabwean authorities to launch a prompt and effective investigation into the army's killing of three protesters and wounding of scores of others following post-election violence, saying it would be addressed.“The investigation into the loss of lives will be established immediately after the inauguration so that it is implemented by a credible commission of inquiry which should really look into the proportionality of the amount of response used in quelling a really violent protest,” he said. It was free – SADC SADC has commended the country on the peaceful election process but condemned the loss of lives.According to the director of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs, Jorge Cardoso, the general observation was that the Zimbabwean election process had been peaceful and that all the fundamental freedoms of citizens were fully respected.Addressing the media on Sunday afternoon, Cardoso pointed out that SADC was obligated to intervene in the face of a potential breakdown of law and order in its member states. Commenting on a remark that the organisation was regarded as a toothless dog, Cardoso said sometimes intervention measures took longer than expected. “Of course we have to be mindful that as an organisation we do not replace institutions in our member states. We have to work with our member states. So there are processes which we need to observe in order for us to work together meaningfully. Sometimes some of the measures we put in place do not immediately have the desired outcome, but we continue to assess member states,” he said. JEMIMA BEUKES

Mnangagwa remains president

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-19

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Mnangagwa remains president

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-19

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