Resist, Reject and Report Violence, #RRRV2023
And who can forget the 2008 election-related violence? It is now common cause that
since 2000, every election in Zimbabwe has been violent, as documented by both local
human rights groups and those in the international arena. However, the 2008
harmonised election will go down as by far the most violent election to be conducted in
Zimbabwe to date. The period leading to the 2008 election was violent but it was in the
period leading up to the run-off (after election results had been released on 2 May 2008
to reveal Mugabe had attained 43.2% against Movement for Democratic Change leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai’s 47.9%) that all hell broke loose. This period was characterised by a
scale of organised violence and torture that was so large and extreme that Tsvangirai
eventually withdrew from the second round of the poll citing the need to protect the
public and MDC supporters from further violence.
Other examples of state-sponsored violence include Operation Murambatsvina - a
government operation that saw scores of people being displaced and losing their homes
and livelihoods with the UN estimating that a total of 2.4 million people were negatively
affected and Operation Makavhotera papi where thousands were killed and tortured for
voting for opposition political parties.
Discontent with the largely despotic and authoritarian Mugabe regime subsequently
culminated in a November 2017 military-assisted coup that toppled Mugabe from power.
The second republic captured its eagerness to move away from the repressive legacy of
the Mugabe-led regime under the mantra “Zimbabwe is open for business”. The country
walked into the 2018 elections hopeful that its violent past was now essentially that - a
thing of the past. Then on 1 August 2018, the unthinkable happened. Scores of
Zimbabweans who had taken to the streets to express their frustration at the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission’s perceived delay in announcing the presidential election results
following the 30 July 2018 harmonized elections were met with brutal force that resulted
in tragic loss of life. The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) fired live ammunition into the
crowd of demonstrators and innocent bystanders resulting in six lives being lost and
scores more being injured.
January 2023
The Zimbabwe Peace Project Monthly Monitoring Report
15