Zimbabwe opposition postpones ‘inauguration’ over cholera

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe’s main opposition says it has postponed an event to affirm its leader as the country’s “duly elected president” because of a deadly cholera outbreak in the capital.

The announcement by the Movement for Democratic Change party comes after the government banned “public gatherings” in Harare to help curb the outbreak.

The opposition on Saturday had planned an “inauguration” of Nelson Chamisa after losing disputed elections. He would be the latest African politician to hold a ceremony of defiance while claiming the presidency.

The MDC party says the event will occur “on a later date.”

Chamisa narrowly lost the July 30 election, the first after the fall of decades-long leader Robert Mugabe. A legal challenge to the results was rejected by the constitutional Court.