Re-elected leader pleads for unity and promises to revive ailing economy following last month’s disputed polls.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised to lift millions out of poverty as he was sworn in for a second term after being declared the winner of last month’s disputed election.
Voters went to the polls on August 23 to elect Zimbabwe’s president, parliamentarians and local council members, but the main opposition party described the results that gave Mnangagwa 52.6 percent of the presidential vote as a “gigantic fraud”.
In his speech after being inaugurated on Monday, Mnangagwa pleaded for unity in the aftermath of the polls and promised to revive the ailing economy.
“Responsive policies which began in the first term of my presidency are on course to lift many out of poverty,” Mnangagwa said in the capital, Harare.
Thousands of his supporters, mostly bussed in from across the country, sang and danced as the 80-year-old walked into the National Sports Stadium alongside his wife, Auxillia.
He took the oath of office in front of Chief Justice Luke Malaba who in 2018 declared Mnangagwa as winner following a Constitutional Court challenge.
“I stand as a president of all. I offer you individually and collectively, unity,” Mnangagwa said.
Several African leaders – including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mozambique leader Filipe Nyusi and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi – attended the swearing-in ceremony, while Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema chose to stay away.
Mnangagwa’s second term comes amid unrelenting economic challenges, with the Zimbabwean dollar having plunged 80 percent since the start of the year while international funding remains frozen.
Reporting from the ceremony, Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa said the country’s economic recovery was likely to dominate Mnangagwa’s focus in the next five years.
The Aljazeera
