Presenter Emily Maitlis raised concerns surrounding corruption within the national elections, pointing to reports by the MDC Alliance, the country’s main opposition political party bloc, the EU, and Zimbabwe’s Elections Support Network (ZESN), which highlight significant electoral irregularities.
Commenting on the elections, she said: “They were raising concerns even before polling day that your party was using aid to buy campaign support, that you used state media to your advantage, that you had the advantage right the way through the campaign to steal the election.”
Nick Mangwana responded, saying: “I read the EU report, and they said the election had a lot to be improved on.”
Appearing to acknowledge the election was not entirely democratic, he added: “Democracy is a journey, and we cannot declare that we have reached the destination yet like any other country, but we are building onto it.”
Ms Maitlis expressed her doubt surrounding the possibility of ZANU-PF uniting the country following apparent electoral campaign irregularities and violence which spread across the country, leading to the deaths of three individuals in the capital Harare.
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The MDC Alliance condemned the crackdown, and accused the ruling party of returning to the “dark days” of Mugabe.
Ms Maitlis said: “You are hoping to move forward now and unite the country, I don’t know how that happens.”
Mr Mangwana responded: “It is going to be a struggle because the will to move on doesn’t seem to be universal.”
He claimed opposition parties, including the MDC Alliance, did not want to move on and were trying to “get to power” at any cost.
Commenting on the violence, he said: “Instead of a vote that is based on positivity, a vote that is based on the true will of the people, what they do is crank up emotions and then they say let’s pump ZANU-PF, let’s pump the state to see if it reacts.
“Unfortunately, that narrative does not build the Zimbabwean people, because we are being driven into a crisis mode in this country.”
The representative accused the opposition parties of failing to deliver on the needs and wants of the Zimbabwean electorate, and thinking solely of power.
He said: “All we want is jobs, we want investments so our people can be employed, we want investments so we can improve the lives of our people.
“But the opposition is not interested in that, what they are interested in is power, power at any cost, regardless of all of us.”
The MDC Alliance have nevertheless accused the ruling ZANU-PF party of attempting to rig the vote and interfere with the will of the people.