Country Profile: Zimbabwe
June 7, 2012

The Zimbabwean crisis has been the result of internal and external political forces that have been mounting for years. Internal tensions have been high between the two major political parties, ZANU PF and the MDC. The animosity between these two groups has continuously mutated since the original political rift between Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU and Robert Mugabe’s ZANU. Mugabe ordered the Gakurahunde, the genocidal massacres by the Fifth Brigade against the Matabele people in the 1980’s, and forced Nkomo to dissolve ZAPU so that Zimbabwe became a one party state.

Zimbabwe’s external crises began in the 1990’s when the Zimbabwean government had a falling out with the British government under Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had recently been elected. His administration decided not to continue funding the land resettlement program in Zimbabwe, a program the Conservative party had honored since the 1989 Lancaster House agreements that brought independence to Zimbabwe. Blair’s administration cited misuse of the funds by ZANU, allegations that the Zimbabwean government vehemently denied.

The tides changed for Zimbabwe when a rival political party emerged, posing the first real threat to ZANU- PF. This party called itself MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) and was led by Morgan Tsvangirai, a Shona. Mugabe argued that this party was backed by foreign powers whose motives were to infiltrate the country and impose their agendas upon Zimbabwe. Mugabe then approved the violent farm invasions in which marginalized black people simply approached farms of their choice and ordered the white people off the land. Mugabe asserted that forced land redistribution constituted “liberation” of Zimbabwe from prior forced takeover of land by white colonizers.

In preparation for the 2002 presidential election, draconian laws were enacted by ZANU-PF, which made it virtually impossible for the opposition (MDC) to compete or campaign. An example was the “Public Order Security Act” (POSA), which gave the police power to arrest or harass any public gatherings not sanctioned by the police themselves. This stopped MDC members from campaigning and in the rare event they managed to obtain authorization to gather, the red tape and bureaucracy they encountered proved to be so onerous that they usually ignored the process. Another law enacted in 2002 was the “Access to information and protection of privacy act” (AIPPA) which dictated the limits within which all forms of media could operate. This meant all material that did not sympathize with the ZANU-PF agenda was banned, preventing the MDC from campaigning in newspapers, TV or radio. Imposition of this law caused many foreign media companies to close their doors and leave Zimbabwe. These laws were enforced with a single purpose in mind, to consolidate the power of ZANU-PF and eliminate any possible threats to its dominance.

In addition to these laws, the Zimbabwean government trained a special ZANU-PF youth brigade,” which terrorized and intimidated the electorate all over the country before the elections. Even MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai himself was physically attacked. The elections were held and Robert Mugabe was declared the winner despite widespread evidence of voter intimidation and fraud.

In a nation in which many people do not believe in violence, Tsvangirai knew he could not galvanize the people to revolt or fight back, so instead he campaigned for sanctions against the Zimbabwean government with the hope of backing Mugabe’s regime into a corner. The sanctions came from the West and the economy of Zimbabwe was brought to its knees by way of mismanagement and the brutal effects of the sanctions. This only made ZANU-PF dig deeper trenches. They labeled Tsvangirai a traitor who wanted nothing but pain and suffering for Zimbabwe and blamed his efforts for the great suffering the people have endured. These sanctions have ultimately had a greater negative effect upon the citizens of Zimbabwe than they have had on the ruling party.

In 2005, the MDC split, with one side led by Morgan Tsvangirai and the other by Arthur Mutambara. As the 2008 elections approached, the atmosphere was calm in comparison with the 2002 elections. People voted, but it took months for the results to be announced, and when they were released, no official explanation for the delay was given. The results announced that Morgan Tsvangirai had received the majority of the votes, but they fell just short of the absolute majority necessary to clinch victory so there would be a run off election. Tsvangirai feared that violence by the ZANU-PF youth brigades would resume, so Tsvangirai did not participate in the run off election. By default, Mugabe was re-elected President.

Financial sanctions were biting, and the formerly productive commercial farms no longer produced the surpluses they once did before the land invasions, sending food prices sky-rocketing. The Zimbabwean currency became worthless. Due to its clear loss of legitimacy, ZANU-PF decided to create a coalition government with the MDC. Tsvangirai agreed to join this coalition, a decision that was met with disappointment from many MDC supporters. In this coalition government, Mugabe would remain President and Tsvangirai would be the Prime Minister, with Arthur Mutambara as Deputy Prime Minister. Although the purpose of this coalition was to form a power sharing structure, Mugabe marginalized Tsvangirai by placing MDC ministers over powerless ministries while keeping the powerful ministries of defense, public security, and the intelligence service in the hands of ZANU-PF.

The coalition government is set to expire in March 2013, and Robert Mugabe has expressed the desire to hold elections in 2012. Tsvangirai on the other hand, wants a new constitution to be drafted in hopes of creating a level playing field to avoid a repeat of events that occurred during the last election. There is speculation that Mugabe is looking for a successor to take his place after he wins. Factions are emerging within ZANU PF along tribal lines and by political patronage.

Zimbabwe remains deeply polarized and politically unstable. Genocide Watch considers Zimbabwe to be at Stage 5: Polarization.