SUMMARY
Since shortly after the abolishment of white minority rule in 1979, power in Zimbabwe has been held by ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front), led by Robert Mugabe. Initially, Mugabe endorsed a message of reconciliation, forming a unity government together with white and opposition politicians. However, the ZANU-PF leadership soon began to tighten its hold on power and marginalize potential political threats. In 1983, after opposing plans to create a one-party state, ZAPU (Zimbabwe African Peoples Union) leader Joshua Nkomo and three others were excluded from the unity government on accusations of plotting a military coup. This led to violent protests, mainly in Matabeleland, which were crushed by the army. This intervention caused thousands of civilian deaths, mainly among the Ndebele, Nkomo’s ethnic group. In ensuing elections, the ZANU-PF began to use violence and intimidation to ensure favorable election results, although it still retained popular support throughout most of the country. In 1987, ZANU-PF and ZAPU signed a Unity Accord and merged, further securing power in the hands of the ZANU-PF leadership and resulting in a de facto one-party state.
From the early 1990s, economic decline, compounded by rampant corruption, produced worsening living standards and caused internal and international support for ZANU-PF to decrease. Popular discontent was further aggravated when Mugabe in 1998 decided to contribute troops to support the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in its intrastate conflict, creating a further strain on the economy. In 1999, a new opposition party was launched, the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change), coming in a close second in the 2000 parliamentary elections. In an effort to regain public support, the government launched a programme of land seizure from white farmers, using the old liberation rhetoric and claiming to be giving land back to black Zimbabweans. It also continued to manipulate election results by the use of violence and harassment in order to maintain its grip on power. As a result, the country slid further into economic and political crisis, and international pressure for political reform increased. In 2008, after flawed elections marred with violence, the ZANU-PF leadership conceded to a power sharing agreement with the MDC, and in February 2009 a coalition government was formed.
The government of Zimbabwe has been involved in the intrastate and one-sided categories of UCDP organized violence.
