By Anna Chibamu

ZIMBABWE Electoral Commission (ZEC) chair, Priscilla Chigumba has warned locals to desist from any unofficial results announcement of Monday’s general election insisting the electoral authority was the one duly mandated to do so.

Speaking while giving an election update in Harare Tuesday morning, The ZEC boss said this was an offence.

“The Commission would like to advice that we will announce the results as they come in and all stakeholders should therefore, be reminded that it is unlawful to announce results because it is a direct contravention of Section 66 subsection (a) Subsection (b) of the Electoral Act.

“Announcing results unofficially has the potential to confuse the electorate and cause unnecessary commotion. Zimbabweans are therefore encouraged to disregard any results which are not from ZEC.

“Results not announced by ZEC will not be considered. In this regard, the commission will continue to remind stakeholders to disregard this malpractice.”

Social media is awash with different results from various polling stations in the country but these are not authenticated.

ZEC has said official results could be expected this Tuesday afternoon with some centres reportedly still doing some counting countrywide.

There were 10,985 polling stations during the voting process.