HARARE: Members of Zimbabwe’s defeated opposition party appeared in court on Saturday on violence charges, a day after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared winner of the historic first elections following the downfall of Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa, a former Mugabe ally, has called for unity after presidential rival Nelson Chamisa rejected the results, insisting he was the real winner of an election marred by a deadly crackdown on opposition supporters.

At least six people died after troops in the capital Harare opened fire on demonstrators on Wednesday, sparking an international outcry and raising grim memories of post-election violence under Mugabe’s repressive rule.

Mnangagwa has accused Chamisa’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of fomenting the unrest, but said he would set up an independent commission to investigate the killings.

The 24 opposition members appearing in court were charged with “public violence” during the protests, accused of smashing windows at offices of the ruling ZANU-PF party and setting fire to vehicles.

They were remanded in custody until a bail hearing on Monday.

Defence lawyer Denford Halimani said the 16 men and eight women had been caught up in an “opportunistic dragnet” against the opposition.

Mnangagwa has insisted that Monday’s landmark election was “free, fair and credible”, hailing the vote as a fresh start as he pushes for an end to Zimbabwe’s international isolation.

International observers praised the peaceful conduct of the vote, though EU monitors said Mnangagwa enjoyed an “un-level playing field” including heavy state media coverage.

Mnangagwa won 50.8 per cent against Chamisa’s 44.3 per cent, according to official results — just enough to avoid a presidential run-off.

Chamisa, a 40-year-old pastor and lawyer, has urged his supporters to refrain from violence as he prepares to challenge the results in court. “We won but they declared the opposite. You voted but they cheated,” he said on Twitter on Saturday.

Mnangagwa, 75, has said Chamisa is free to mount a legal challenge, though such a move appears to have little chance of changing the result.

Amnesty International said more than 60 people had been “arbitrarily arrested” in a post-election clampdown on the opposition.

Former colonial power Britain said it remained “deeply concerned by the violence following the elections and the disproportionate response from the security forces”.

Overnight, residents said they had seen troops beating up civilians in Chitungwiza, a sprawling satellite town south of Harare.

Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk, an international relations professor at Wits University in Johannesburg, said Mnan­gagwa was well aware that his recovery plan required “goodwill and support” from the international community.

“If they roll out the soldiers — beyond what happened on Wednesday — throughout the country to suppress dissent, and if more people are killed, then this will spell no good news for this new incoming president,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2018