Pre and Post-Electoral Violence Dynamics in a Fragile State: What Is the Sustainable Solution to the Electoral Violence in Zimbabwe?
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PRE AND POST-ELECTORAL VIOLENCE DYNAMICS IN A FRAGILE STATE: WHAT IS THE SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION TO THE ELECTORAL VIOLENCE IN ZIMBABWE? A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE THESIS IN DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION AND PEACE STUDIES BY FELIX MAKONYE STUDENT NUMBER: 216053649 SUPERVISOR: DOCTOR JOSEPH RUDIGI RUKEMA 2017 i DECLARATION I, Felix Makonye declare that: • The research reported in this thesis, except where otherwise indicated, and is my original work. • The thesis has not been submitted for any degree or examination at any other university. • This thesis does not contain other persons’ data, pictures, graphs or other information, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other persons. • This thesis does not contain other persons’ writing, unless specifically acknowledged as being sourced from other researchers. Where other written sources have been quoted, then: a) Their words have been re-written but the general information attributed to them has been referenced; b) Where their exact words have been used, their writing has been placed inside quotation marks, and referenced. c) Where I have reproduced a publication of which I am author, co-author or editor, I have indicated in detail which part of the publication was actually written by myself alone and have fully referenced such publications. d) This thesis does not contain text, graphics or tables copied and pasted from the internet, unless specifically acknowledged, and the source being detailed in the references’ section. Signed: ………………………………………….. DEDICATION ii This thesis is dedicated to my parents; Liz and Nyika Makonye for imparting the hunger to succeed academically in me. May God bless them with long healthy life. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii Most sincere gratitude, honour and glory to the Most High God (Mwari wekumusorosoro); for the breath of life, protection, sustenance and amazing grace for me and my family throughout my exiled and painful journey for this thesis. Ebenezer! Mwari matisvitsa pano, zita renyu munonzi Shoko raMwari; muri Jehovah wehondo; ndimi Ishe Jesu Kristu; Amen! To my wife Henrietta and the children (Munyaradzi, Elizabeth, Murumbidzei and Kudakwashe) for their astounding resilience, unwavering and sustained support and morale; may God bless you my family! May He keep thee and give thee peace; may His countenance continuously and ceaselessly shine upon thee! To my supervisor Dr Joseph Rudigi Rukema for his unparalleled guidance and direction throughout the arduous expedition of this research. To my friends Dr Clayton Vhumbunu and Rowan Madzamba for their continued support with advice, materials and other essentials during the writing of this thesis. To tete Marceline Murefu and Angelica Machaya for assuming and subsuming very critical and comprehensive roles in the family during my absence from home due to this call for academic tour of duty. To every other individual who has directly or indirectly assisted or supported me in the successful completion of my thesis. ABSTRACT iv Elections are a defining characteristic of the tenets for democracy, and thus form an integral part of the democratization process. Over the past three and a half decades, Zimbabwe’s electoral processes have been pervaded by pre and post-electoral violence dynamics throughout the country. The result has been electoral outcomes that are contestable and neither free nor fair thereby becoming the centrepiece of worldwide attention and condemnation by regional, international and other organizations. The purpose of this study is to inform policy on the holding of elections that are sustainable, peaceful, free and fair in Zimbabwe among other things such as to add the voice of scholarship on the extent to which violence has pervaded the country’s elections so that intervention strategies can be designed to rescue the situation. The objectives of this study are to identify the dynamics that lead to pre and post-electoral violence in Zimbabwe, to determine the existing mechanisms to stem pre and post-electoral violence in Zimbabwe and to contribute strategies to mitigate pre and post-electoral violence in Zimbabwe. The focus of the study is Zimbabwe’s electoral processes from independence in 1980 to the present day. The study is purely qualitative in its nature and it appeals to three theoretical frameworks namely the conflict transformation theory, theory of positive and negative peace and the human needs theory. The study found the dynamics pre and post-electoral violence as militarization, ethnicity, draconian legislations and war rhetoric among others. It further found the existing mechanisms to stem violence as the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and legal recourse among others. The study concludes by suggesting contributions such as demilitarization, international supervision of elections and the presence of observers well before and after elections. All data were presented and analysed using NVIVO software. v Contents CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................................... 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Background to the study .............................................................................................. 1 1.3 Problem statement ....................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Significance of the study ............................................................................................. 4 1.5 Research Objectives .................................................................................................... 4 1.6 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 4 1.7 Research Methods and Methodology: ......................................................................... 5 1.8 Research Sample ......................................................................................................... 5 1.9 Instruments Design ...................................................................................................... 5 1.10 Data collection procedures .......................................................................................... 6 1.11 Validity ........................................................................................................................ 6 1.12 Data presentation and analysis .................................................................................... 6 1.13 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2 .............................................................................................................................. 8 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 8 2.2Ethnic politics and violence in the post-colonial era......................................................... 9 2.3 Civil dissent and violence in the 1990s .......................................................................... 12 2.4. Farm invasions and the racial violence in Zimbabwe. .................................................. 13 2.5. Political labelling and the electoral violence in Zimbabwe ......................................... 15 2.6 Violence and the polarisation of the global political agreement (GPA). .................... 20 2.7 Conditions preceding the June 2008 Run-off ............................................................. 20 vi 2.8 The military/security factor in the Run-off election ................................................... 22 2.9 The Political Environment: The Reign of Fear .......................................................... 26 2.10 Towards Explaining the Scorched-earth Campaign ................................................. 31 2.11 Tsvangirai’s Withdrawal and the One-candidate Election ....................................... 33 2.12. Table 1: Run-off Presidential results by province ............................................. 36 2.13. Table 2: Results of Presidential Elections- March and June 2008..................... 36 2.14 General Elections in March 2008 ............................................................................. 38 2.15 State-Sponsored Violence and Torture since the March 29 Elections ..................... 38 2.16 Reasons for the Violence .......................................................................................... 39 2.17 Incitement and Organization of the Violence ........................................................... 41 2.18 The Role of the Joint Operation Command .............................................................. 41 2.19 The Role of Police and Prison Service Officers ....................................................... 42 2.20 Defence Force Involvement in Acts of Violence and Torture .................................. 44 2.21 Army Assistance to ZANU-PF Supporters, Youth Militia and War Veterans ......... 47 2.22