MDC candidates held after St Mary's clashes

MDC candidates held after St Mary's clashes

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ZIMBABWE police on Sunday arrested 13 opposition activists and two aspiring lawmakers in Harare's dormitory town of Chitungwiza after clashes that followed the country's general election.

Parliamentary candidates from rival factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party and the activists were detained after clashes which left five people injured, said national police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena.

"Supporters of one of the candidates, Marvellous Khumalo, did their own calculations and concluded that they had won against the other candidate Job Sikhala and started celebrating," Bvudzijena told AFP.

"As part of the celebrations they made a mock coffin with the words 'Rest in Peace Jobless' and went to Sikhala's house in St Mary's where they were intercepted by Sikhala's supporters, resulting in the clashes."

The clashes had left five people with serious injuries including one with a broken arm and another with a gash across his face, he added.

Both Sikhala and Khumalo were arrested.

Zimbabweans went to the polls on Saturday to choose a president, lawmakers and councillors in a contest in which veteran President Robert Mugabe is fighting for a sixth consecutive term in office.

The electoral commission said results would be released after a verification and counting process at wards.

The campaign leading to the polls was peaceful compared to the country's last presidential elections, which were marred by violence that claimed several lives.

The MDC, which once posed the stiffest challenge to Mugabe's stranglehold on power, has been riven by factionalism following a row in 2006 over senate polls. - AFP
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