iii) Counting of results Some polling stations delayed the start of the counting of ballots due to the amount of paper work required for the ballot paper account. Results transmission and announcement of results delayed and anxieties were fuelled by results circulating on social media. The MDC Alliance also raised concerns that their Chief Elections Agents did not verify presidential results. 6. Post- Election a) The Political Environment While the election took place in a peaceful environment, the post-election period was marred by violence which caused the loss of six (6) lives on 1 August 2018. Several shops were destroyed and a number of vehicles were set on fire in Harare’s central business district in the post-election violence. Demonstrators took to the streets to protest against the manner in which ZEC conducted the elections. The angry demonstrators also marched to the Rainbow Towers, where most observation missions were holding press conferences on their preliminary statements and later moved to the ZEC Offices. According to the Police Chief Spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, the police sought assistance from the army to control the demonstrators. In the ensuing commotion the army used live ammunition resulting in the dearth of six people12. Observer Missions to Zimbabwe, including the ESN–SA Eminent Persons issued statements condemning the violence and urged all contesting parties who had grievances to take recourse in courts of law as articulated in Section 93 of the Zimbabwe Constitution13 with provisions outlined under Section 167 of the Electoral Act instead of taking their concerns in the streets as this could only further endanger people’s lives, create anarchy instead of resolving the problems. Both the ruling party Zanu (PF) and the MDC Alliance gave statements accusing each another of causing the incident which claimed the loss of six lives. President Mnangagwa promised that after his inauguration, he was going to institute a full inquiry comprising of both local and international independent people to investigate the shooting incident. He further reiterated his stance on the matter in his inauguration speech on 26 August 2018. b) The Security Situation Despite the violence that rocked Harare on 1 August 2018, the political environment in Harare and most of the country remained calm leading to the MDC Alliance court case on 22 August, 2018. The hearing proceedings took place amid calls by the Police for peace to allow the court to deliberate on the MDC Alliance petition without interference from 12 https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/03/zimbabwe-least-6-dead-post-election-violence 13 https://pindula.co.zw/Constitutional_Court_of_Zimbabwe 23