Thousands hail Zimbabwe opposition leader at new party rally

By FARAI MUTSAKA
Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s leading opposition figure Nelson Chamisa drew thousands of cheering supporters on Sunday to his first political rally since forming a new party weeks ago, as the country gears for elections that have been postponed due to COVID-19. Nelson Chamisa formed the Citizens Coalition for Change party in January, breaking from the country’s longtime opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC. The 44-year-old lawyer and pastor lost a disputed presidential election in 2018 to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the country’s Constitutional Court threw out his challenge to the result. The courts later ruled that Chamisa was not the legitimate leader of the MDC, a decision that handed control of the party to rivals seen close to Mnangagwa.