HARARE — Zimbabweans
voted Saturday in key parliamentary and municipal by-elections seen as a test
for President
Emmerson Mnangangwa's ruling party in next year's general polls.
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The polls had generated so much interest in
the run-up that Mnangangwa led various campaign rallies to shore up support for
his ZANU-PF candidates.
But only short queues were seen in the hours
after polling stations opened at 7am.
The southern African country has for years
been grappling with economic hardships, unemployment, and accusations the
government was stifling dissent.
"We need change," Jasen Maeka, a
42-year-old unemployed man said after voting at a polling station in central
Harare.
"We should give the opposition a
chance. This government has proved to be a failure," Maeka said.
Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who is
seen as the most formidable challenger to Mnangangwa, formed a new party
Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), three months before the by-elections.
He sees the election as a "crucial ...
a dry run of the 2023 election".
The new party drew massive crowds to its
campaign rallies.
Chamisa's party complained of growing
repression by the authorities as several of its rallies were banned by the
police during the two-month long campaign.
Unrest at an opposition rally last month
left one person dead and 22 injured.
During the campaign, the country's vice
president Constantino Chiwenga likened the opposition to lice which should be
"crushed" and Mnangagwa vowed at a Thursday rally that ZANU-PF would
rule "forever".
ZANU-PF, which has led the country since
independence from Britain in 1980, also attracted huge campaign crowds.
'Another disputed election'
Critics accuse Mnangagwa, who took power in
2017 after
Robert Mugabe ruled for 37 years, of muzzling critics and the
opposition has voiced concern that election will not be credible.
Chamisa accused the electoral commission of
bias and said he had alerted regional blocs such as SADC.
"We can't have yet another disputed
election," said Chamisa after casting his ballot in Harare's Kuwadzana
township.
"We want a proper referee, a proper
umpire not this one who throws the whistle away to join the other team,"
he said, referring to the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
"ZEC is literally mobilizing apathy,
making sure that people are frustrated, making sure that the vote is
suppressed".
Voters are casting ballots in 28
parliamentary constituencies including 20 where opposition lawmakers were recalled
in a battle over the control of the country's largest opposition party.
The rest of the seats fell vacant following
the deaths or reassignment of the incumbents.
By-elections were also being held in 122
local government municipalities.
The by-elections were supposed to be held
within 90 days of the seats falling vacant but Mnangangwa delayed the polls in
2020 citing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sixteen parties were taking part in the
elections.
On the eve of the polls, Chamisa's party
alleged that the election was rigged before voting had taken place, citing
errors in the voters register.
The ZANU-PF director for information and
publicity, Tafadzwa Mugwadi, told AFP the voting process has been going
"pretty well."
He said: "So far so good."
Polls close at 7pm (17:00 GMT) on Saturday.
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