1.0 Introduction
It was widely expected that the new year would open with thawed political tensions owing to the fall of the
military coup which overthrew Robert Mugabe in November 2017. This was not the case. Political tensions
remained high. The political environment was still characterised by inter and intra party violence which seemed
to be escalating amid the 2018 general elections due before the end of September 2018. Evidence points out to
the deplorable political environment in Zimbabwe which is not only stagnant but seems to be deteriorating,
same can be argued about the economic environment. Amidst the assumption of duty as the President of
Zimbabwe, President Mnangagwa made promises to the masses of Zimbabwe that his 100-day plan [which
ended on 4 March 2018] would see better health care, increased circulation of money thus eradicating cash
ques, repatriation of externalised money and increased foreign direct investment. However, as we bask in the
100-day plan, the reality is the opposite of what the president set forth, for example, the socio-economic crisis
continues to spiral out of control.
Factional conflicts within the MDC-T intensified since the untimely passing away of Dr. Morgan Richard
Tsvangirai the founder and president of the MDC. The two main factions are led by Nelson Chamisa the interim
President of the MDC-Alliance who was Tsvangirai’s deputy at the time of his death and Thokozani Khupe
who is one of the MDC-Ts Vice Presidents. Intra- party violence and conflict among the MDC-T leadership and
supporters is becoming a growing culture of settling political differences within the party The first of these intra
party violent clashes happened in August 20171 and on the 20th of February violent clashes occured in Buhera
during Dr. Tsvangirai’s funeral as party youths affiliated to Nelson Chamisa assaulted Thokozani Khupe,
Douglas Mwonzora and Abednico Bhebhe.
During the month of January, the Harare City Council (HCC) in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Republic
Police and the Zimbabwe National Army launched a short-lived operation banning commuter omnibuses from
passing through the Central Business District (CBD). This led to citizens walking long distances from periphery
bus stops as far as Coca Cola along Seke Road. Apart from the distress faced by the commuting public, the
ripple effects of the operation resulted in the death of two (2) people (Nhamo Zepheniah 64 and Anatoria
Kaseke 54) who succumbed to gunshot wounds from a police officer following skimishes involving police
officers, commutter omnibus opertors, vendors and members of the public.
1 The
intra party violence occurred on 06 August at the MDC-T offices in Bulawayo when youths affiliated to
the late MDC-T president Morgan Tsvangirai disrupted a meeting that was being held by the party’s Vice
President Thokozani Khupe
2