Zimbabwean opposition leader Nelson Chamisa has reportedly said that he “fears” the recent bombing at a Zanu-PF rally could be used to clamp down on opposition parties ahead of the country’s crunch polls next month.

According to Reuters, the Movement for Democratic Change leader says that the unexplained blast was likely going to be used by the government to clamp down on “certain individuals, certain candidates that they perceive to be their credible opposition”.

An AP report says there are 23 candidates standing for president in the July 30 elections, the first without former president Robert Mugabe since independence in 1980.

The attack at the end of Mnangagwa’s rally in Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Bulawayo, last month killed two of the president’s security officers and was the first serious violence in the current election campaign.