HARARE - Campaigns are in full swing in Zimbabwe as political parties gear up for a general election next month. Incumbent president, Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), is hoping to secure a second term in office, according to Deatsch Welle.

His biggest rival in the presidential election is Nelson Chamisa of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party.

The two were the frontrunners in the last presidential race in 2018 too. This time around though, they will have to contend with a once exiled former ZANU-PF minister, Savior Kasukuwere, too.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has approved 11 presidential candidates in total , with each having had to pay $20,000 (€18,000) to appear on the ballot.

Voters in the southern African country will head to the polls against a backdrop of an alleged intensifying crackdown on the opposition. Several members of the opposition have been arrested and dozens of opposition campaign events have been blocked.

The CCC has also complained that it has been given too little exposure on national television in the runup to the vote. One voter in Harare told DW she is worried about the violence on the political scene in the runup to the vote. [Alexandar] Rusero, the politics professor at Africa University in Zimbabwe told DW he is doubtful that the 2023 elections will bring about meaningful change.

"Unfortunately, we are not yet at a stage where there is a relationship between what voters want and what they vote for, otherwise we wouldn't have ZANU-PF in power for the past 43 years," he said.