decisions. Mugabe would be seen “surrounded by a phalanx of uniformed security forces…and when challenged he did not hesitate to apply his self-proclaimed “degrees in violence” against his real or imagined enemies”.6 Up to 2008 Zimbabwe experienced a litany of political violence, characterised by electoral violence in 2000, 2001, 2002, and the 2008 delivering the most violent election in the history of elections in Zimbabwe. From 2000 onwards, Mugabe’s regimes were most militant and relentless in their violent pursuit of their goal of power. In 2002, even Mugabe described his cabinet as a “political war cabinet” during swearing in. One of Mugabe’s minister in 2008 told the electorate that the “bullet is mightier than the ballot”. Mugabe himself made electoral choices impossible when he remarked during a rally that “Only God, who appointed me, will remove me - not the MDC, not the British. Only God will remove me!". This shaped the context and possibly the electoral outcomes as the individuals and institutions jostled to please Robert Mugabe, even when it meant to rig an election or pulverization of the opposition through violence. The power politics in Zimbabwe provided the tenor of violence in the country during the period leading to any elections. The ruling elite learnt to deploy coercive methods to deal with opposition, which the opposition counteracted, often resulting in violence. In practice, ZANU PF and its political allies have been the major purveyors of violence as a tool.7 “The main perpetrators have been ZANUPF supporters, so called “war veterans,” youth militia and state security forces, including the police and the army”.8 In a similar way, the military was deployed in the 1980s to Matabeleland and Midlands provinces to destroy ZAPU of Joshua Nkomo and its supporters.9 The emergence of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as a strong contender for power shifted attention to them, increasing the intensity of violence. Human Rights Watch reports that the “overwhelming majority of victims of violence during the country’s most recent elections in 2000, 2002 and 2005 were officials and members of the MDC, their supporters and anyone perceived to support the party, including ordinary Zimbabweans and civil 6 7 8 Bratton. M (2014), Power Politics in Zimbabwe. London: Lynne Rienner. CSVR (2009), Subliminal Terror? Human rights violations and torture in Zimbabwe during 2008.. June 2009. Johannesburg: Center for Study of Violence and Reconciliation. Human Rights Watch (2008), All Over Again. Human Rights Abuses and Flawed Electoral Conditions in Zimbabwe’s Coming General Elections. A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper. March2008. NEW YORK: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH. 9 CCJP & LRF (1997), Breaking the Silence-Building True Peace: A Report on the Disturbances in Matabeleland and Midlands 1980 to 1988, HARARE: CATHOLIC COMMISSION FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE IN ZIMBABWE & LEGAL RESOURCES FOUNDATION. 3