Zimbabwe at crossroads: stakes will be high in country’s upcoming elections

When six million registered Zimbabwean voters go to the polls this Wednesday (23 August), they will choose the country’s next president from a dozen candidates, who are expected to tackle multiple issues at stake including Zimbabwe’s long-running economic woes.

While a dozen candidates are vying for the presidency, the main contest is between incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa and leading opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa. But this is happening against the backdrop of frequent reports of growing repression that cast doubt on credibility of polls in a country struggling with corruption, inflation and poverty.

“Zimbabweans wanted political change after the army ousted authoritarian President Robert Mugabe in November 2017,” says Charles A. Ray from the US-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, who adds that despite Mnangagwa’s promises of free elections in 2018, “the military remained in control, and the excitement following Mugabe’s departure quickly faded when the military began to crack down on protests.”

According to Ray, the former US ambassador to Zimbabwe, “if the pessimists are right and this year’s elections are as corrupt and violent as past elections, the region and the world could very well see Zimbabwe descend into another downward economic spiral as it did in the 1990s.”

But the prospect of a worsening of Zimbabwe’s economic situation is only one of the multiple key issues at stake in the elections. The other important issues why this election is so hotly contested are significant political instability with violence, corruption, and authoritarianism being recurring themes; transparency and integrity of the electoral process that has since 2002 been marred by massive electoral violence; limited or even non-existent access to quality healthcare, education, and basic services; and widespread corruption that has eroded public trust in the government.