Zimbabwe: ZANU PF hegemony and its breakdown (1990-1999) (continued)

In March 1992 enabling legislation, the Land Acquisition Act, was passed to give effect to effect to the constitutional amendment of 1990, which freed the government from paying market related prices for land acquired for land reform and set a target of buying half of white commercial farming land in this way for redistribution to peasants (Encyclopedia of the Nations 2007; Hanyama Undated). In April 1993 the government announced that it would purchase 70 farms with a total of 470 000 acres for this purpose, raising the ire of Commercial farmers and foreign donor governments (Encyclopedia of the Nations 2007). In 1994 it became public knowledge that 98 farms acquired had not been used to settle peasants but had been leased to high level ZANU-PF officials and civil servants; Mugabe cancelled the leases, but the government did not have the resources to execute the planned resettlement of 100 000 peasants (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1289; ICG 2004, 47, 49).

The House of Representatives elections in April 1995 were boycotted by ZUM and the United Parties (successor to the United African National Council) and six other parties; (see 1995 General Elections for details; Masunungure 2004, 165). Thus, despite growing social unrest ZANU-PF took 81% of the vote and 118 of the 120 elective seats (see 1995 House of Assembly results for details). Though only 57% of voters turnout for this election matters deteriorated in the president elections of April 1996 which registered a 32% poll (see 1996 Presidential Elections for details). Mugabe won convincingly with a 92.7% against reluctant opponents (see 1996 Presidential results for details).

The deteriorating economic situation and concomitant emiseration, the oppressive political environment and popular resentment of perceived corruption in the governing elite led to social and labour unrest in the middle part of the decade. Labour unions, students, religious leaders and civil society activists began to voice popular discontent (Encyclopedia of the Nations 2007; ICG 2004, 49). Strikes by state professionals (teachers and medical staff) erupted in 1994 and a demonstration against police brutality degenerated into a riot in Harare in December 1995 (Gwisai 2002; Brown & Saunders 2007, 1289; Masunungure 2004, 167). In August 1996 a long and bitter strike by 235 000 government workers was able to wring substantial concessions from the government, including wage increases and recognition of public sector unions (Gwisai 2002; Kanyenze 2004, 130; Masunungure 2004, 167). The government's response to the unpopularity of the ESAP, which had concluded in 1995, was to launch the Zimbabwean Programme for Economic and Social Transformation (ZIMPREST) in 1997 that aimed largely at achieving the same goals as the ESAP by similar measures, and like the ESAP it failed dismally for much the same reasons (Kanyenze 2004, 129).

In 1997 allegations of tender corruption and misappropriation by cabinet ministers and senior civil servants of state funds for private use were made (Brown & Saunders 2007, 1289). A broad alliance embracing a wide array of civil society organisations (students, professionals, churches civic organisations) was formed in May, called the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), which, together with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU, led by Morgan Tsvangirai), raised issues of democratisation and of corruption in government (Masunungure 2004, 173; Kanyenze 2004, 130). There were a record 232 of strikes that year, and nationwide demonstrations led by the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Gwisai 2002).

Of particular embarrassment to the government was continuing demonstrations by war veterans under the leadership of the War Veterans Association, which demanded that payments be made to them from the state fund set up to assist them (Gwisai 2002; Kanyenze 2004, 131). It became apparent that the fund had been misappropriated by senior officials and ZANU-PF functionaries and the government was forced to make unbudgeted payments from the treasury to meet the veterans' demands and then levied additional taxes to cover them (Gwisai 2002; Selby 2006, 254-455). The amounts of money involved were enormous, as Selby (2006, 255) points out, "The gratuity alone exceeded total expenditure on land since Independence". ZCTU was outraged and resisted the tax through mass stayaways and demonstrations in December 1997 and March 1998; these were widely supported and the government was forced to withdraw the tax and finance the payment through domestic borrowing, with disastrous consequences for the economy (Masunungure 2004, 170; Gwisai 2002; Kanyenze 2004, 131). It did, however, gain Mugabe the support of the veterans who played a key role in ZANU-PF and in party and land politics from then on; in Ndlovu-Gatsheni's words "they were and are being used by the party to intimidate, harass, threaten and even torture civilians on behalf of ZANUPF" (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2004, 317; Selby 2006, 256).

References

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BROWN, R & SAUNDERS, C 2007 "Zimbabwe: Recent History" IN Frame, I (ed) Africa South of the Sahara 2008, Europa Publications, 1287-1295.

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MASUNUNGURE, E 2004 "Travails of Opposition politics in Zimbabwe since Independence" IN Harold-Barry, D (ed) Zimbabwe: The Past is the Future - Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis, Weaver Press.

NDLOVU-GATSHENI, SJN 2004 "Putting People First - From regime Security to Human Security: A quest for Social Peace in Zimbabwe, 1980-2002" IN Nhema, AG (ed) The Quest for Peace in Africa: Transformations, Democracy and Public Policy, OSSREA.

SELBY, A 2006 COMMERCIAL FARMERS AND THE STATE: INTEREST GROUP POLITICS AND LAND REFORM IN ZIMBABWE, Doctoral Thesis, Oxford University, [www] http://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/1842/493/1/thesis+final.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 11 Dec 2007).