Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance vice president Tendai Biti was fined US$200 by Harare magistrate Gloria Takundwa after being found guilty of unlawfully announcing MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa as the winner of a presidential poll held on July 30.
A former finance minister under Zimbabwe’s short-lived unity government between 2009 and 2013, Biti was facing two charges, one of announcing the results and one of declaring Nelson Chamisa as duly elected as president.
Under Zimbabwean law, only Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is allowed to release the outcome of an election.
Official ZEC results showed that the election was by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.