Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader has postponed plans for a mock inauguration on Saturday following a police ban on public gatherings as the country battles to contain a cholera outbreak that has killed 26 people.
Nelson Chamisa, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), says he was cheated of victory by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the July 30 election, the first since Robert Mugabe was removed in a coup last November.
Chamisa’s critics accuse him of trying to copy Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, who took a symbolic presidential oath in a challenge to President Uhuru Kenyatta in January.
The mock swearing-in was set to coincide with the MDC’s 19th anniversary rally at a stadium in Highfield township, which is near Glenview in Harare, the epicentre of the cholera outbreak.
Nearly 4,000 people have been infected with cholera, which has been declared a health emergency in Harare.
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