Guest Post: Zimbabwe: The War at Home

Guest Post by Lionel, Student from Zimbabwe
There is a lot of tension looming as Zimbabwe approaches its Presidential elections set for 2013. 

what used to be the "breadbasket of Africa"

The two main parties in the elections are the Zimbabwe African National Union-Political Front (ZANU-PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). ZANU-PF has been the ruling party since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980 until 2008 when they signed a power sharing deal in which a coalition government was formed between ZANU led by President Mugabe, MDC led by Prime Minister Tsvangirai and another faction of the MDC led by Vice Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara. Over the past four years, there has been a lot of conflict within the coalition government. In a more recent controversy, ZANU-PF Politburo and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in an interview that the military would not accept an MDC victory in the coming elections. Members of Zimbabwe’s security sector have also previously issued similar statements saying that they will not salute Tsvangirai if he wins elections because he has no liberation war credentials. 

President Robert Mugage "Uncle Bob" (left) and PM Morgan Tsvangirai (right)

The tension between the two parties has been made worse by their conflict in reforming the Zimbabwean constitution. The MDC has threatened to boycott the 2013 Presidential elections if a solid constitution hasn’t been delivered by then. Another source of tension is the recent imprisonment of Tsvangirai’s supporters. The fear is that Mugabe will have his way and the 2013 elections will be characterised by violence by ZANU-PF supporters, just like in the 2008 elections.

Random Lionel Thoughts: I think that coalition governments never work as long as the people involved think in terms of divisions rather than the good of the people. The situation of the Zimbabwean government right now reminds me of the Kenyan government- only that the Kenyan government is divided in terms of tribalism whereas Zimbabwe is divided according to the two main political parties. The failure of the government to agree on significant issues has resulted in inefficiency to an even greater extent.