On Tuesday, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa pledged to hold free and fair general elections later this year. He made this declaration in a speech commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the country’s independence from British colonialism.
It’s worth noting that Mnangagwa’s victory in the 2018 elections was highly contested by his main competitor, Nelson Chamisa, who claims that the election was rigged.
Amnesty International, a human rights organization, characterized the situation as a rapidly diminishing civic space.
According to Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa, freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly are being increasingly targeted. Dissenting voices are being subjected to criminalization.