Zimbabwe: The Continuing Struggle for Unity and Democracy, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The African continent is home to a diverse variety of culturally unique ethnic groups. Due to its long history of colonization by European nations, it is also home to large groups of white settlers. Modern day Zimbabwe is a testament to this history, as it has a deeply rooted culture and an incredibly varied history that involves many cultural groups, colonial groups, various state names, disputed boundaries that have changed over time and a long list of governments come and gone. Through it all, the nation of what is now called Zimbabwe has continued to struggle with a national identity.

There are several parts to becoming a fully formed nation. One is becoming a cohesive state, and this is an area in which Zimbabwe has had much struggle. The other is becoming a nation, and due to the fact that Zimbabwe is home to many diverse cultural groups, both of African and European descent, this too has been a struggle. In order to understand Zimbabwe, it is necessary to look at its history of government, which has often included violence and rebellion, its elections, political parties, and its relationship with other nations and its place in the international community. While Zimbabwe’s past has been wracked with strife, its future looks promising as its emerging Democracy has begun to bring peace and prosperity to this ancient and culturally unique African nation.

State

Zimbabwe is located in southern Africa, landlocked between South Africa and Zambia. Until 1923 it was called Southern Rhodesia and was a part of the colonial South African Company. However, in this year it was annexed by the UK. In 1961, a new constitution was created to bring democracy to the country, still called Rhodesia, but it was unfairly formulated to keep the minority whites in power.  In 1965, the government, led by Prime Minister Ian Smith, declared its independence from the UK and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority (CIA.gov). Unfortunately, the UK did not recognize the act and this led to a guerrilla uprising and UN sanctions. Finally, in 1979, free elections were held and the country of Zimbabwe was officially given independent status on April 18,1980.

The 1979 constitution laid out a democratic government modeled after that of the United States. The three branches of government are the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial. The Executive Branch consists of the President, who is the head of state, and the Prime Minister, who is the co-head of government, along with their Cabinet members. The Legislative branch is bicameral, and consists of the House of Assembly and the Senate. The Judicial branch has various levels including a Supreme Court, High Court, Magistrates Courts, Labor Courts and customary courts (BBC).

Today, the state of Zimbabwe covers 390,757 square miles, a size only slightly larger than the state of Montana (CIA.gov). However, despite its small size, it has a large population. As of 2010, the population of Zimbabwe was estimated by the UN to be 12.6 million with a growth rate of 1.4% (EISA.org). 1.5 million live in the country’s capital city, Harare. The life expectancy, however, is only about 50 years old, for both men and women (BBC).  As of 2008, the 37% of the population lived in urban areas, increasing by about 2.2% annually.  AIDS has had a heavy toll on the population of Zimbabwe, with 15.3% of the population affected as of 2007 (CIA.gov).

Due to the fact that Zimbabwe is rich in natural mineral resources, including diamonds, ferrochrome, gold, silver, platinum, copper, asbestos, nickel, graphite, coal, lithium and palladium, it has the possibility of being a wealthy nation.  Agriculture, which makes up 19% of the GDP, includes crops for export such as corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, tea, sugarcane, peanuts as well as cattle, sheep, goats and pigs (U.S. State Department).  However, resources are unfairly distributed and foreign interests own a large percentage of Zimbabwe’s resources, which has been the reason behind the controversial attempts to redistribute the land and wealth more fairly to the native people of Zimbabwe by President Mugabe (BBC). In 1997, Mr. Mugabe “announced an acceleration of the land resettlement programme, saying private white farmers will not be fully compensated, and suggesting the UK assist them. A list of more than 1,000 targeted properties was published in November 1997 (BBC).”

Nation

A nation constitutes a cohesive people within a state. Within the state of Zimbabwe, this has been a struggle due to the fact that Zimbabwe is home to several cultural groups. The Mashona, who speak their native language of Shona, make up 75% of the population. They are the cultural group who has inhabited the land that is now Zimbabwe the longest. About 20% of the population is made up of the Matabele people who speak Sindebele. This cultural group inhabits the southwest of Zimbabwe in the area known as Bulawayo and have lived there approximately 150 years.

Zimbabwe has a long history of immigration of different African ethnic groups. Before colonization, there were no boundaries, so groups came and went fluidly, as resources and pressures allowed.  With colonial borders, families and ethnic groups were arbitrarily divided, yet this did not deter these groups from crossing borders to visit family and search for work. Groups affected by the colonial borders included

“the Kalanga of southwestern Zimbabwe and northeastern Botswana; the Shangaan, Venda and Tsonga peoples of southern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and northern South Africa; the Manyika and Ndau people of eastern Zimbabwe and central Mozambique; and the various      ethnic groups astride the Zambian-Malawi, the Zambian-Zimbabwean and the Zambian-Angolan borders, as well as the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (IDRC.ca).”

Approximately 1% of the population  is made up of white settlers from European descent. While this is a small part of the population, it is important because traditionally whites have controlled much of the land and resources of Zimbabwe. More than half of the white Zimbabweans are of English origins and arrived in Zimbabwe after World War II. Other Anglo groups include Afrikaners from South African and those of Portuguese and Mozambique descent (U.S. Dept. of State).  The white population makes up a very small percentage of the overall population, and is steadily decreasing as more emigration occurs that immigration.

“Until the mid-1970s, there were about 1,000 white immigrants per year, but from 1976 to 1985      a steady emigration resulted in a loss of more than 150,000, leaving about 100,000 in 1992. Renewed white emigration in the late 1990s and early 2000s reduced the white population to less than 50,000. English, the official language, is spoken by the white population and understood, if not always used, by more than half of the black population (U.S. Dept. of State).”

Due to the various ethnic cultural groups that inhabit the small country of Zimbabwe, violence and discourse has arisen and continues to be an issue that this country struggles with. While steps have been made in recent history to unify these diverse ethnic groups into a common Zimbabwe nation, a fully cohesive nation is still lies in the future.

Government

The currently government of Zimbabwe is a democracy. Its leader, Robert Mugabe, had continued leadership as President of Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980.  He did, however, share this power with the Reverend Canaan Banana in 1980. However, Banana’s role was largely ceremonial. In 1987, Banana retired and Mr. Mugabe became Zimbabwe’s first Executive President (BBC). While Mr. Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party have officially won the elections for the past 3 decades, there is some dispute about his claim to power, and critics have accused him of heading a military regime (BBC).

The elections of 2008 elicited a new wave of controversy for Mugabe and the ZANU-PF. In this election, the “ZANU-PF lost its parliamentary majority and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mr Mugabe in the presidential vote but with insufficient votes to avoid a run-off (BBC).” During the run-off, Mr. Tsvangirai ended up withdrawing from the race because of vicious attacks on his supporters. Mr. Mugabe was then sworn in for another term in June 2008. Due to international pressure, Mr. Mugabe eventually agreed to a sharing of power with Mr. Tsvangirai, who has the official position as Prime Minister, a situation with which Mugabe has not tried to hide his distaste for (BBC). Tsvangirai has accused Mugabe of keeping control of the ministry that controls the state run police force under his own control, which has led to accusations of human rights violations by both Tsvangirai and the international community (BBC).

The two mean come from very different political ideologies. Mr. Mugabe is a member of the African Liberationists tradition that has its roots in the 1960 struggles for African freedom. This ideology supports a strong and what could be called ruthless leadership and is very anti-Western with a strong distrust of capitalism. This ideology is also deeply intolerant of dissent and opposition, which is why Mugabe has been so reluctant to give up leadership over the past 30 years.

Mr. Tsvangirai helped found the Movement for Democratic Change in 1999. He has a more modern view of democracy and has spoken out against the current regimes violations of human rights as well as worker rights. He was the sun of a bricklayer, and in his early years worked as a miner before becoming involved in Zimbabwe’s trade union movement. He later became secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.  During his run for political office, he faced numerous physical attacks, as well as treason charges, even being accused of plotting to kill Mugabe himself. “In a speech after his inauguration, Mr Tsvangirai called for an end to human rights abuses and political violence. He also pledged to do all in his power to help alleviate the suffering of Zimbabweans (BBC).”

Elections

Zimbabwe is officially a democracy, with elections held on five year intervals. Everyone over the age of 18 is given the right to vote. Parliamentary officials are to hold office for 5 year terms, and until 2007 the Presidential term was 6 years. Constitutional Amendment 18 went into affect, reducing the presidential term to 5 years.  Election procedures, however, have been of much debate in Zimbabwe. In 1990, just 10 years after independence, elections were already being scrutinized.  In this election, Mugabe and his party won in a landslide victory, taking 117 of the 120 election seats. However, voter turnout was only 54%. This election turned Zimbabwe, for all practicalities sake, into a virtual one-party state. Mugabe event tried to officially turn Zimbabwe into a one party state in September 1990, however, the resolution failed (U.S. Dept. of State).

The most recent elections of 2008 were again fraught with adversity and claims of fraudulence. In order to try to monitor the elections and in order to ensure democratic freedom is maintained, the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) has, since 1999, has monitored the content of the radio’s mainstream radio, television and print media sources and compiled weekly reports of its findings.  It is well established that a major part of democracy is the freedom of the media. Up until 2010, all of the broadcasters transmitting from Zimbabwean soil are state run. A set of “draconian laws and institutions, along with prison sentences for “publishing false news”, are used to clamp down on critical comment. Journalists who fail to register with a government body risk imprisonment (BBC).”  However, in 2010, Zimbabwe got its first run, privately owned newspaper in seven years, the NewsDay.  The company also published the Standard, the Zimbabwe Independent and The Zimbabwean.

The more liberal freedom of press is good news for the new election reforms that are occurring in Zimbabwe. After the disastrous elections of 2008, the Global Political Agreement (GPA) was signed, underpinning a three-party unity government. According to the GPA, elections are due to be held in 2011 under the new constitution. However, political and financial restraints have, as of 2010, slowed the drafting of the new constitution so whether or not the elections will be held remains to be seen (SAIIA.org).

Political Development, Change and Violence

Political violence has been at the root of much of Zimbabwe’s problems for the last century. Before independence, a number of guerrilla armies battled for control of Zimbabwe. However, after the independence of 1980, Mugabe integrated the three standing armies, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) and the Rhodesian Security Forces (RSF) into a single national state run army called the Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF).  The army today is divided into an army and an air force that is controlled by the President. Currently the army has about 30,000 members, however, it is authorized under the constitution to have up to 40,000 (U.S. Dept. of State).

The government of Zimbabwe has been accused of horrendous human rights violations that have included torture, which is executed by both the state run military and the police force. In a report issued in January of 2009 by the Human Rights NGO Forum, a senior Zimbabwean police officer is quoted as telling a South African newspaper journalist, “We beat prisoners beneath the foot, we are not crazy enough to hit the whole body because that can be used against us in court (HRFORUMZIM).”  The type of torture that is widespread in Zimbabwe is called falanga, an ancient form of torture that has been practiced in the Middle East since ancient times. It is the systematic beating of the soles of the feet using some form of instrument, such as a stick, a baton, or an iron bar while the victim is restrained in some way.  There have been many reports of torture, and especially falanga, in Zimbabwe, and according to statics presented by the Human Rights NGO forum, these reports, along with abductions, arrest and detention, assault, attempted murder,  political discrimination and other acts of violence by military and police officers, increase during national elections.

Political Parties and Groups

According to the CIA factsheet, Zimbabwe has a host of political parties, Those include the African National Party (ANP), the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the Movement for Democratic Change – Mutambara (MDC-M), a splinter faction of the MDC, the Peace Action is Freedom for All (PAFA), the United Parties, the United People’s Party (UPP), Zimbabwe African National Union-Ndonga (ZANU-Ndonga), Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU), and the Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance (ZIYA).

Up until the 2008 elections, Zimbabwe was controlled primarily by the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). In 2008, the MDC candidate, Tsvangirai, was given dual control of the government after a much contested run-off election.  This was the first time that a party outside of the ZANU had any control of the government since the independence in 1980. The MDC was founded in 1999 and has been concerned with union workers rights and ending human rights violations.  While this party has found much popularity amongst the people of Zimbabwe, its short history has been wracked with violence. Party members have received death threats, suffered physical attacks and been generally harassed, supposedly at the hands of the dominant political party, the ZANU, and state controlled police and military forces (BBC).

International Relations

Zimbabwe’s role in international affairs is generally limited to those with its neighbors on the African continent. In 1980, Zimbabwe became a member of the United Nations.  In 1997, Zimbabwe was part of a coalition, that included Angola and Namibia, that intervened in the crisis in the DR Congo. Zimbabwe also assisted Namibia in its attempt to declare independence from South Africa. During this intervention, Zimbabwean troops came into direct conflict with Rwandan and Ugandan troops. However, Zimbabwe has completely withdrawn troops from this conflict by 2003 (SOMALIPRESS.com). Zimbabwe has also taken part in UN peacekeeping operations in Angola, Somolia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kosovo and East Timor (ZIMFA.gov).

Border conflicts continue between South Africa and Zimbabwe. South Africa has placed military along the border to stem the flow of thousands of immigrants from Zimbabwe, trying to reach South Africa in hopes of finding work (CIA.gov). Botswana has built electric fences along its border with the same intent. Internationally, the relationship between Zimbabwe and the UK has become very stressed in recent years, as has its relationship with the U.S. (CIA.gov and SOMALIPRESS.com). It does, however, remain close ties with other more revolutionary states and organizations, including the Peoples Republic of China, Cub a, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Libya and the Palestine Liberation Organization (SOMALIPRESS.com).

Foreign Policy

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe (ZIMFA.gov) lists its foreign policy goals on its official website. Its stated goals include safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity and protesting its prestige and image. Zimbabwe supports policies that improve the standard of living for all Zimbabweans, no matter where in the world they reside, and creating and maintaining an international environment conducive for the attainment of these goals. The government of Zimbabwe pledges its support to liberation movements around the world in adherence to its belief in national sovereignty. Implementation of Zimbabwe’s foreign policy comes mainly through the co-operation with neighboring countries and its involvement in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

Conclusion

There is still much work to be done for this emerging nation to join the ranks of its more developed neighbors, such as South Africa. In order to come out of its state of poverty, Zimbabwe will need to face its current economic and social problems, including human trafficking and a sluggish GNP. For the great majority of the population in Zimbabwe, it is simply not possible to earn a decent living in their own country. The current rate of migration out of the country attests that this is currently not the case. Currently, Zimbabwe is known as being a major route for drug trafficking to South Asia, a situation it will need to deal with in order to reduce and keep criminal activity out of its borders (CIA.gov).

However, while Zimbabwe’s past has been a constant struggle for unity and peace, progress has been made, and continues to be made. The recent signing of the Global Political Agreement, the creation of privately owned media, and the increased international interest is, hopefully, bringing a new era of peace to Zimbabwe. There is much hope that Zimbabwe can rise above its past. It has a largely literate population, with over 90% of the population being able to read and write. Human rights activists are becoming more involved in the situation in Zimbabwe, hopefully curbing the amount of violations there, especially with new elections on the horizon. There is still hope that Zimbabwe will rise to become a great nation and a leader in the South African community.

Works Cited

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