By Cris Chinaka

HARARE (Reuters) – President Robert Mugabe will be inaugurated within hours, a government source said on Sunday, after an election which African observers said was unfair and scarred by violence and intimidation.

The Pan-African parliament observers, one of the few groups able to monitor the ballot, said the one-candidate vote on Friday was so flawed it should be rerun.

Results have not been released, but Mugabe said he was heading for victory in the poll, dismissed as a sham by much of the world.

The source said Mugabe’s swearing-in for a new five-year term was imminent: “The ceremony is going to be at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT) and the invitations are being sent out.”

The inauguration would allow Mugabe to extend his 28 years of unbroken rule before attending an African Union summit in Egypt on Monday where he has vowed to confront his critics.

Mugabe was the only candidate after MDC opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew because of government-backed violence which he said had killed nearly 90 of his supporters.

“These elections were not free and fair,” said Marwick Khumalo, head of the Pan-African parliament observer team.

“Conditions should be put in place for the holding of free, fair and credible elections as soon as possible.”  Continued…