Zimbabwe's capital was under tight security today as the Constitutional Court began to hear the main opposition party's challenge to the results of last month's historic presidential election.
Police barricaded the streets around the court in central Harare amid high tensions over the crucial case which will decide if President Emmerson Mnangagwa's election victory is valid.
The opposition claims the vote had "gross mathematical errors" and it seeks a fresh election or a declaration that its candidate Nelson Chamisa is the winner of the July 30 vote.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission declared Mnangagwa narrowly won with 50.8 percent of the vote, avoiding a runoff.
Chamisa received 44.3 per cent, the commission said.
The election was the first after the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe, who stepped down under military pressure in November.
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Many hoped the peaceful vote would launch a new era for Zimbabwe but two days later six people were killed when the military swept into the capital to disperse opposition protesters.
Western election observers and diplomats condemned the "excessive" use of force.
European Union election observers were in court today; Mnangagwa badly needs a credible electoral process as a key step in removing international sanctions.
Chamisa's challenge claims the electoral commission bumped up Mnangagwa's figures through double counts and the creation of "ghost" polling stations.
It also alleges that some polling stations recorded more voters than those registered to vote.
"It's like a kid was playing with the figures," a lawyer for the opposition, Thabani Mpofu, told the court. He alleged that 16 polling stations had identical results and that "massive doctoring" took place.
Chief Justice Luke Malaba, however, pressed the opposition for the original election results forms to back up their allegations: "We cannot act on generalities."