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Mugabe's Party Vows 'Unique Wealth Transfer' in Zimbabwe


 A Zimbabwe Stock Exchange official walks past an electronic display screen showing an 11-percent drop at the close of trading, Harare, Aug. 5, 2013.
A Zimbabwe Stock Exchange official walks past an electronic display screen showing an 11-percent drop at the close of trading, Harare, Aug. 5, 2013.
Zimbabwe's ruling party says it will carry out plans to give local blacks control of foreign-owned companies, despite concern from investors.

ZANU-PF announced its plans in Zimbabwean newspaper ads on Tuesday, following its landslide victory in last week's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The full-page ads said that in the next five years, Zimbabwe will witness what the party called "a unique wealth transfer model that will see ordinary people take charge of the economy."

Shares on Zimbabwe's stock exchange dropped another 2 percent on Tuesday, after an 11 percent drop on Monday, as investors feared losing their assets.

Local observers have alleged fraud in the elections, and opposition party MDC says it challenges the results in court. The African Union and Southern African Development Community, however, have endorsed the polls.

Among Zimbabwe's neighbors, only Botswana has expressed doubt, calling for regional bloc SADC to audit the election tallies.

Speaking to VOA's Studio 7 Zimbabwe program on Tuesday, ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo was dismissive of Botswana's concern.

"We can't go by individual countries' assessment," he said. "We go by what SADC says, what does the AU say."

Gumbo said ZANU-PF was "vindicated" by the election results, which gave Mugabe a new term and allowed ZANU-PF to take a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Western nations have expressed concern about election irregularities, with Australia calling for a re-run of the vote.

The vote brought an end to a four-year power-sharing government between ZANU-PF and MDC. The economy had rebounded during that time, after years of shortages and hyperinflation largely blamed on Mugabe's economic policies.
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