Zimbabwe to hold elections on July 30th

"The Zimbabwe election commission is hereby advised to fix Monday the 30th of July as the day of the election of the office of president, the election of members of the house of assembly and election of councillors," President Mnangagwa said.

These will be Zimbabwe's first-ever elections since independence from white minority rule in 1980 without the participation of Robert Mugabe, who resigned in November amid pressure from the military, his party and the public.

Mnangagwa will be seeking to consolidate his hold on power and that of the ruling ZANU-PF party. The elections will be for president as well as for parliamentary and council seats.

Nelson Chamisa, 40, head of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, will be Mnangagwa's main challenger.

If no candidate receives a simple majority in the first round of the presidential election, a run-off will be held on September 8th.

The election will be Zimbabwe’s first in many years to be monitored by Western observers.

The European Union signed an agreement earlier this week with Zimbabwe in preparation for deploying election observers nationwide.

Mr. Emmerson Mnangagwa, born in 1942, is serving as the third and current President of Zimbabwe since November 24th, 2017./.