Masaya reportedly tortured and his body dumped on outskirts of Harare after being abducted while campaigning

A Zimbabwe opposition activist has been found dead after he was abducted on Saturday during a political campaign just outside Harare, the Citizens Coalition for Change party has said. It was the second abduction in weeks of an opposition party member.

Tapfumaneyi Masaya was reportedly bundled into a vehicle by unknown men while campaigning for the CCC’s candidate ahead of byelections on 9 December, the party said.

Opposition politicians and activists arrested since President Emmerson Mnangagwa won second term

Barely a week after being sworn in as an opposition MP following elections in Zimbabwe last month, Gift Siziba found himself in police custody facing several charges, including inciting violence at a football match and defacing posters of an opponent in Bulawayo.

While other legislators debate in parliament, Siziba, from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has been in and out of court defending his innocence.

Election victory marred by criticism of voting process from other parties and official observers

Emmerson Mnangagwa has a secured second term as Zimbabwe’s president in a poll marred by electoral malpractice.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared Mnangagwa the winner, with 52.6% of the vote, beating Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), who trailed at 44%.

Polling described as ‘shambolic’, with electoral body accused of conspiring with ruling party to ‘disenfranchise’ opposition voters

Voting in Zimbabwe’s election has been extended by another day after huge delays in the delivery of ballot papers to some wards.

The country’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, issued a decree late on Wednesday to extend voting by another day in 40 wards across Harare, and the provinces of Mashonaland Central and Manicaland, as the government tried to salvage polling that had been described as “shambolic”.

Most urban polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo, where opposition claims it has strong support, open four hours late

Delays have marred voting in Zimbabwe’s general election after a campaign dominated by the country’s interlinked economic crises.

Voting at most urban polling stations in Harare and Bulawayo began four hours late after polling officers failed to distribute papers for the council elections. Some polling stations were still to receive election material more than seven hours after polls opened.

Promises to get inflation and unemployment on track after decades of Mugabe rule have failed to materialise

An ever-worsening economic situation is hanging over Zimbabwean voters as they go to the polls in a repeat of the 2018 election pitting President Emmerson Mnangagwa against his charismatic and relatively youthful challenger, Nelson Chamisa.

Mnangagwa narrowly defeated Chamisa five years ago after the coup that deposed Robert Mugabe, and pledged to to tackle the economy “head on” in his first term. However, unemployment, inflation and falls in the value of the Zimdollar have persisted.

Information ministry calls for calm after attack by suspected supporters of country’s ruling Zanu-PF party

A Zimbabwean man has died after he and other opposition party supporters were ambushed by suspected supporters of the country’s ruling party on their way to a campaign rally west of the capital, Harare, stoking fears of growing violence three weeks before elections.

Police confirmed the death and said two suspects had been arrested, as the country’s information ministry called for calm.

New law that criminalises ‘wilfully damaging’ country’s national interest raises fears of crackdown on dissent

Zimbabwe’s parliament has outlawed criticism of the government before presidential and parliamentary elections in August, with violations of a new law punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

The criminal law code amendment bill, widely known as the “patriotic bill”, contains a clause that criminalises “wilfully damaging the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe”.