Zimbabwe set July 30 for First Election Since Mugabe’s Ouster

Zimbabwe has announced that its first post-Robert Mugabe election will hold on July 30.

According to Reuters, President Emmerson Mnangagwa made the announcement, promising that the elections will be free and fair. He wrote:

I am delighted to proclaim July 30 as the date for the 2018 harmonized elections. These elections will be free, fair and transparent, and the voice of the people will be heard. I call on all candidates to campaign peacefully and focus on the issues that really matter

The election is expected to have the international community monitoring.

The former president, 94-year-old Mugabe, had been forced out in 2017 after he sacked Mnangagwa as his vice president and was rumored to be planning to install his wife Grace Mugabe.

Ballot papers and voting ink are said to have been contracted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to a southern African country.