HARARE – The Constitutional Court has fixed August 22 as the date on which it will begin hearing an election petition brought by Nelson Chamisa, leader of the MDC Alliance, challenging Presidential Election results.

Incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, narrowly won the election with 2.46 million votes against 2.15 million for the 40-year-old Chamisa, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced in the early hours of August 3.

His 50.8 percent outright win ensured Mnangagwa avoided a runoff election by just 38,000.

Chamisa challenged the results in a court filing made on August 10, citing all the other 22 Presidential Candidates as well as ZEC, it’s chairperson and its CEO.

Mnangagwa and Noah Manyika are the only presidential candidates who have responded so far, with ZEC expected to take centre stage at the hearings.

Chamisa’s spokesman Nkululeko Sibanda said Thursday morning that they had been informed of the court date.

“President Chamisa’s court application to be held on August 22, 2018, at 10AM. The evidence is overwhelming and victory is certain. Numbers don’t lie, and so the President-elect @nelsonchamisa looks forward to this day,” he announced on Twitter.

Chamisa, who accuses ZEC of manipulating the result by inflating Mnangagwa’s votes, wants the court to nullify the results and declare him the winner instead, or alternatively that a rerun be ordered.