Zimbabwe riot police is trying to contain protesters of the opposition MDC who dispute the recent election results in the country.
Zimbabwe has just conducted elections without Robert Mugabe for the first time in its history. The ruling party, the ZANU-PF won the majority seats most especially in the rural areas where it holds sway.
Zimbabwean police fired tear gas in central Harare on Wednesday to disperse stone-throwing supporters of the opposition MDC party, according to Reuters witnesses and live television images.
The MDC leader Nelson Chamisa had written on twitter much earlier when the votes were still being counted that he had won the “popular vote” in the Monday presidential election, in which he faced off against President Emmerson Mnangagwa from the ruling Zanu-PF party.
Observers from the European Union mission to the General Election in Zimbabwe said they noted instances of “soft intimidation” and an unfair playing field.
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EU Chief Observer Elmar Brok, however said, the election was an improvement on previous polls.
“These elections were seen as a critical test of Zimbabwe’s reform process,” Brok said.
“In some senses, up to this point, the conduct of the polls has had a number of positive features, but in other senses serious concerns remain.” He further asserted.
The EU observers observed the negatives of the election to be; soft intimidation such as the ruling party showing visibility outside polling stations when parties are supposed to stay at least 300 metres away.
The EU observers also noted that there was serious misuse of state resources and not all polling stations posted results outside as they were supposed to.
Zimbabwe police had taken precautionary steps to stall any outburst of violence during and after the elections. They had stationed water cannons in strategic places around Harare and polling booths.