Zimbabweans are voting in what many hope will be something the country has never seen before: a free and fair election, without the interference of former leader Robert Mugabe.
The landmark vote has been touted as the first time the African nation will hold an election without the former strongman in almost four decades, but although Mugabe is not on the ballot, his influence continues to be felt.
The now-disgraced 94-year-old could not resist stepping back into the political arena on the eve of the vote. In his first major political statement since being ousted from office last November, Mugabe said he would not vote for his former party Zanu-PF or the current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
At stake in the landmark presidential election is a chance for Zimbabwe to finally shed its reputation as a pariah state, and move to a democracy free from international sanctions.
The country, which suffered crippling hyperinflation under Mugabe, desperately needs the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to start giving it loans again. It also needs the United States, European Union and others to lift sanctions.
But those restrictions will remain in place until a free and fair election takes place — anything less, and in international eyes at least, it may as well be Mugabe still in power.
