In Zimbabwe, announcement of election date triggers both hope and despair

By FARAI MUTSAKA
Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s president recently announced that national elections will take place on Aug. 23. The elections present an opportunity for change for many Zimbabweans battered by economic hardships and frustrated by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s failure to fulfil promises of reform, six years after a coup that brought him to power. However, longstanding obstacles against the opposition remain. The opposition and some human rights groups say oppressive laws, arrests and detentions of opposition officials and supporters, bans of meetings, alleged violence, biased state media and voters’ roll irregularities tilt the ground in the ruling party’s favor — just like with previous elections.