Zimbabwe’s ruling party, Zanu-P,F has filed papers opposing the MDC Alliance’s challenge to the presidential election results.

Official results show that President Emmerson Mnangagwa won 50.8% of the vote compared to opposition MDC Alliance leader Neslon Chamisa’s 44.3%.

The MDC Alliance says the poll was marred by “mammoth theft and fraud”, but the electoral commission insists that there was “no skulduggery”.

Zanu-PF’s lawyers say the MDC Alliance challenge came too late as their papers were filed on Friday afternoon.

“We will show the court that Chamisa’s lawyers had until Friday 10 am [08:00 GMT] to file and serve their papers,” Zanu-PF lawyer Lewis Uriri is quoted by the Herald as saying.

Mr Mnangagwa has been hoping these elections would legitimise his rule after taking over amid a military intervention that saw Robert Mugabe resign in November as president after 37 years in power.

Source : BBC Africa and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission