Key Historical Epochs Haunted by the historical tragedies of colonialism, the liberation struggle, the Gukurahundi Massacres; the “Third Chimurenga”; Operation Murambatsvina; the 2000, 2002, 2005, March and June 2008 election violence as well as other isolated but politically and socially linked tragic events of our past…. Zimbabwe's history can be described by reference to sequences of challenges, which at different epochs were expressed through violent conflicts. As is the case with most post-colonial societies, the country's abuses can be traced from the pre-colonial era, colonialism, liberation wars, postindependence political and ethnic struggles and gender conflicts. All these “transitions” were often questionable since justice was not ushered in and alleged perpetrators were often rewarded with positions of authority. Pre-colonial and Colonial Era The recorded history of the territory now called Zimbabwe is characterised by great violence. This is largely traced to the arrival of Mzilikazi and his entourage in 1838. In keeping with the times, Mzilikazi is said to have forcefully assumed control over the already existing Shona people in the process of establishing the Ndebele nation in the south-west of present day Zimbabwe. The next main epoch was the creation of the state of Rhodesia, and again the use of violence was central to its inception. The sequence of historical events starts with Cecil John Rhodes' British South Africa Company (BSAC)'s fraudulent treaties with the King of the Ndebele, which led to the natives' uprisings of 1893 and 1896. Both uprisings were stopped by private sector force, which led to the conquest and annexation of the territory into the British Empire. It is widely documented that the colonial regime used both the law and force to expropriate land. Thus for the purposes of this paper it suffices to point out that racially based capitalistic exploitation of resources, which was validated by law, intensified in 1922 when political power was handed over to the white settler population. Britain's commitment to the decolonisation process was resisted by the Rhodesian white settlers, who unilaterally declared Rhodesia to be independent (UDI) in 1965. This UDI regime, which faced international isolation, was under the leadership of Ian Douglas Smith. It declared a state of emergency, which was renewed 49 times and remained in force until 1990. This was ten years after Truth Commissions: the Best Practices 21