Mnangagwa won the election with 50.8 percent of the vote, just enough to meet the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a run-off against the main opposition led by Nelson Chamisa

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Emmerson Mnangagwa was officially sworn in as president of Zimbabwe on Sunday, August 26 after winning a bitterly contested election that marked the country's first vote since Robert Mugabe was ousted from power. Mnangagwa, whose victory in the July 30 polls was challenged by the main opposition, pledged to “protect and promote the rights of Zimbabweans” at an inauguration ceremony attended by thousands of supporters at a stadium in Harare. “I Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa swear that as president of the republic of Zimbabwe I will be faithful to Zimbabwe (and) will obey uphold and defend the constitution of Zimbabwe,” he said to thunderous applause from a crowd that also included several African heads of state. Once Mugabe’s right-hand man, Mnangagwa of the ruling ZANU-PF party won the election with 50.8 per cent of the vote — just enough to meet the 50 per cent threshold needed to avoid a run-off against the main opposition led by Nelson Chamisa, who scored 44.3 per cent. He took the oath before the country’s chief justice, Luke Malaba, whotogether with eight other constitutional court judges had dismissed Chamisa’s petition.
Emmerson Mnangagwa is sworn in as the President of Zimbabwe, after an assassination attempt two months earlier.