Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Africa’s oldest leader at 89, has been sworn in today for a new five-year term in the face of criticism from opponents and the West that the election he won in July was deeply flawed.
Mr Mugabe, who has ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1980, has told critics of his re-election to “go hang” and has vowed to press ahead with nationalist policies forcing foreign firms to turn over majority stakes to black Zimbabweans.
The UK has said the re-election of Mr Mugabe could not be deemed credible without an independent investigation into allegations of voting irregularities.
“I strongly believe that an independent investigation of any allegations of election irregularities would be required for the election result to be deemed credible,” British foreign secretary William Hague said in a statement today.
Last week, the main opposition party in Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), dropped a court challenge against the election result because of doubts it would receive a fair hearing.
Mr Hague said he was “extremely concerned” at the decision to abandon that challenge, saying he was disappointed the South African Development Community had chosen to endorse the election result.
Mr Mugabe (89) has made clear he would brook no questioning of his disputed victory, either from the West or from his MDC rivals.
Reuters