Zimbabwe will hold national elections on July 30, the first for the southern African nation since then-president Robert Mugabe was ousted from power by the military last November.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa set July 30 as “the day of the election of the president, the election of members of the National Assembly and election of councillors.”

The 75-year Mnangagwa, who was Mugabe’s vice president, will lead the long-ruling ZANU-PF party against the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa.

President Mnangagwa has pledged the elections will be free and fair, and has invited international observers to monitor the voting.

This will be Zimbabwe’s first election since gaining independence in 1980 without the 94-year-old Mugabe’s name on the ballot.
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