Woman dies on queue during Zimbabwe presidential election

A woman slumped and died on a long voting queue in Zimbabwe’s first election since Robert Mugabe’s humiliation last November.

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson, Priscilla Chigumba, told the media on Monday night that the woman died at a polling unit in Bulilima, reports iHarare.

“The commission is saddened to learn of an unfortunate incident in Bulilima where a female voter collapsed and died at a polling station. We want to express our deepest condolences to the family of the now deceased,” Chigumba was quoted as saying.

The Zimbabwe election witnessed a large turnout of voters as 5.6 million registered voters were eager to decide their country’s future after Mugabe’s ouster.

Millions of Zimbabweans have known no other leader but Mugabe--the dictator who became president in 1980 following British colonial rule.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa of ZANU-PF party and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) are the two candidates vying for the Zimbabwean presidency.

Both men have claimed victory, even though at the time of writing, the vote is still being collated.

ZANU-PF iron grip on power

ZANU-PF has held an iron grip on power in Zimbabwe since independence from British colonial rule in 1980, and victory for the opposition would be a major upset.

Analysts say it was unclear whether the country's military generals, who ousted Mugabe and ushered Mnangagwa to office last year, would accept a win by the Movement for Democratic Change.

Defeat for the ruling party would likely lead "to a denunciation of the election by the Mnangagwa administration and the potential for the military to intervene to secure power for ZANU-PF," the London-based BMI risk consultancy said, according to a report by AFP.