The January 1998 three-day food riots which were in response to the general increase in
prices of basic food commodities and collapse of the Zimbabwean dollar fuelled by
excessive payout packages to war veterans and the country’s military assistance to the
Democratic Republic of Congo followed and represented the most violent riots Zimbabwe
had witnessed since independence. It was not just the rioting of ordinary citizens, but the
violence of the State’s response that particularly shocked the nation. Eight extra-judicial
killings, scores of grave injuries and thousands of arrests left an enduring impression on
the nation. The 2000 elections arrived against the backdrop of not just a long contested
process of producing a new constitution but, tellingly, against violent land invasions and
cases of organised violence and torture on commercial farms which, according to research
think-tank, the Research and Advocacy Unit, was aimed at converting the support of over
300 000 commercial farm workers and their families to Zanu PF. The Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) and the Amani Trust produced multiple reports
documenting the scale of the organised violence and torture during this period: 80 extrajudicial killings; more than 799 cases of abductions and more than 90 cases of torture were
recorded.
The 2002 presidential elections were characterised by the formation of the National Youth
Service (NYS) under the late Zanu PF political commissar Border Gezi. Although the
purpose of the National Youth Service was for provision of education and skills to young
people, the program was soon politicised with young people taught on intolerance
manuals to penetrate violence on political opponents. The youth, who came to be
commonly referred to as “Green Bombers” or “maBorder Gezi” were repeatedly implicated
by the public and press in murder, torture, beatings, rape, abductions, malicious damage
to property, theft and intimidation.
January 2023
The Zimbabwe Peace Project Monthly Monitoring Report
14