Emmerson Mnangagwa urged Zimbabwe to unite behind his presidency on Sunday, as he took the oath of office following a divisive election that U.S. observers said had called the country’s democratic credentials into question.
The Constitutional Court confirmed Mnangagwa as president on Friday, dismissing a challenge by the man he beat in the July 30 ballot, Nelson Chamisa.
Thousands of Zimbabweans and foreign leaders including South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Paul Kagame of Rwanda gathered at Harare’s national stadium for Sunday’s swearing-in.
Mnangagwa in his inauguration speech reaffirmed pre-election pledges to revive Zimbabwe’s crippled economy and settle outstanding debts with foreign lenders, and reiterated he would call an independent inquiry into a “regrettable and unacceptable” army crackdown following the vote in which six people died.
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