GWERU - Zimbabwe’s largest opposition party on Sunday finally managed to launch its election campaign after multiple bans of planned rallies ahead of August 23 general polls.

Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa promised economic prosperity and an end to corruption as he launched his party’s campaign.

Chamisa, who leads the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), is running against 80-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has led the ruling Zanu-PF since 2017.

The 45-year-old politician, lawyer and pastor launched his “For Everyone” campaign in the city of Gweru, about 300km east of the capital Harare, vowing to fix the country’s unrelenting economic crises.

The southern African nation, long prone to political and economic instability, is bracing for another electoral battle between Chamisa, and iron-fisted President Mnangagwa.

Chamisa vowed to win despite what he said were efforts by authorities to block his rallies.

“You cannot stop an idea whose time has come,” he told an enthusiastic crowd of supporters.

“They can stop our meetings but they cannot stop people from loving me.”

The CCC says more than 90 of its rallies have been blocked since the party’s formation early last year.

“There is a national grievance across the whole country. We are ushering a government which will bring opportunities for everyone.”

Mnangagwa, who replaced strongman ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017 after a military-led coup, heads the ruling ZANU-PF party, which has been in power since independence in 1980.

Human rights activists have accused his government of clamping down on dissent and failing to uphold basic rights.

Zimbabweans will vote in local, parliamentary, and presidential polls next month. 

- Nampa/AFP