This gives Mugabe a seventh term in office.

Mugabe, who will turn 90 next February, making him Africa's – if not the world's – oldest leader, has been at the helm of power in this southern African country since it gained independence from Britain in 1980.

The ZEC also confirmed that Mugabe's ZANUPF won 158 seats in the 210-seat National Assembly.

Tsvangirai's Movement of Democratic Change (MDC) won 50 seats, while two seats went to independent candidates.

The ZEC said that put of Zimbabwe's roughly six million registered voters, 3.48 million people cast their ballots in the July 31 polls.

The ZANU-PF won most of the seats lost to the MDC in 2008.

Five years ago, Tsvangirai won the first round of elections but failed to garner more than 51% of the vote as is required by law.

It was the first time for Mugabe to come in second in an election.

But a run-off never happened due to subsequent violence and political parties settled for a national unity government.

Mugabe now has the necessary parliamentary majority to change the constitution, adopted in May of this year.

He is not happy with the constitution because it provides for a decentralized government and he wants a centralized state.

The opposition has refused to accept the results, vowing to challenge them in court.

But the Southern African Development Community Election Observation Mission (SEOM) has described the elections as "free and peaceful."

While giving its stamp of approval to the elections, the SEOM urged the new government to implement media reforms, provide voter lists for inspection, update voter lists, and quickly release funds to the ZEC so as to enhance the electoral process.

Other observer teams to have endorsed the polls are those from the African Union and the SADC-ECF missions.

Zimbabwe has been under sanctions by the European Union and the US for the past 13 years following the violent farm invasions of 2000.

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