Senior Zimbabwe opposition official says Mnangagwa won fair and square

A senior official of opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s Movement for Democratic Change has inflicted a terrible blow to his boss’s case saying President Emmerson Mnangagwa won the just ended elections fair and square.

Eddie Cross, who was Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South but did not contest this year’s elections after deciding to retire from active politics, said Mnangagwa took a big gamble and won and his victory will stand up to any challenge.

Chamisa insists he won the elections and is challenging Mnangagwa’s victory.

Cross, who was at one time the party’s policy coordinator, said Mnangagwa did not resort to the old tricks of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front of rigging elections.

“In this case, ZANU recognized that they had to have an election that was credible and that could not be challenged,” Cross wrote on his personal blog.

“It was a huge risk for them because they knew that they carried the baggage of 37 years of Mugabe dictatorship and a deeply divided party at all levels.

“It was the President who took the decision to proceed despite the risk and the end result was an election campaign that was open and free to all contestant’s.”

Cross said: “The playing field was not level in any way – ZANU had ample resources, the MDC Alliance none until late in the campaign.

“ZANU had total control of the media and used it, they also controlled the access to State resources and used that on a huge scale.

“But they did not attempt to falsify the results when they came in and survived by the skin of their teeth.

“Because the Constituency results are not, by and large, contested, the Presidential ballot will stand up to challenge and I am sure that this has been done. Any legal challenge should therefore be short lived,” he said.

Cross’s argument is likely to be rubbished because he had predicted before the poll that Mnangagwa was winning.

The Zimbabwe Election Supervisory Network has also said its projections were in line with those of the ZEC.

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