Polls open in Zimbabwe’s first election since Mugabe’s…

HARARE, July 30 (Reuters) – Polls opened on Monday in Zimbabwe’s first election since the removal of former president Robert Mugabe, a watershed vote Zimbabweans hope will rid the country of its global pariah status and spark a recovery in its failed economy.

The election will see 75-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a long-time Mugabe ally, face 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, a lawyer and pastor who is vying to become Zimbabwe’s youngest head of state.

Voting began at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and will end at 7 p.m. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Joe Brock Editing by Paul Tait)