ZIMBABWE POLLS: Results expected as ousted Mugabe says he won’t vote for the one who ‘tormented’ him

Millions of citizens in the South African country of Zimbabwe are about now exercising their franchise as they vote to elect their next president in the first poll since 1980 without former leader Robert Mugabe on the ballot.

Reports say a total of 10,985 polling stations have been set up across the country for the election which has twenty-three candidates, 19 men, and four women, running for the presidency – all for the first time.

According to reports, more than five million Zimbabweans have registered to take part in the landmark elections and pick their next president and members of parliament

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President Emmerson Mnangagwa, of the ruling ZANU-PF party, and Nelson Chamisa, of the opposition MDC Alliance, are seen as the top two contenders.

Meanwhile, former leader Mugabe in a statement has vowed not to vote for Mnangagwa of the ZANU-PF.

“I cannot vote for those who have tormented me. I can’t,” the 94-year-old said on Sunday in his first live appearance since being pushed out of power by a military intervention in November 2017.

“I can’t vote for ZANU-PF. I can’t vote for those in power. I can’t vote for those who brought me into this state,” said Mugabe, who spent 37 years in office.

“I will make my choice among the other 22 presidential candidates,” he said.

Sources say the 23 candidates vying to become president of Zimbabwe marks the highest number of presidential hopefuls since the end of white minority rule in the country of 16 million people.

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