PF) and the Office of the Prime Minister (linked to the MDC‐T). A total of 54% of them trust the Office of
the President somewhat or a lot (43% do not trust it); and 46% trust the Office of the Prime Minister
somewhat or a lot (36% do not trust it).
Trust and cynicism on public institutions
Trust in or cynicism of public institutions often converges between the supporters of the two main
parties. The comparative ratings of public institutions reflect the changing 2012 political landscape. Not
only is the level of trust for some of the security forces, including the police, very high – it is also notable
that many aspects of the practice of IG get credit from supporters of both the main parties. These
respondents also agree on most of the attributes that they wish to see in their government. However,
despite often‐high levels of trust, MDC‐T supporters are more cynical than their ZANU‐PF counterparts
of, for example, the judiciary.
All categories except ‘a lot of trust’ except for the Office of the Prime Minister see substantial rises in
the proportion of Zimbabweans that trust these institutions ‘a lot’ (Table 14). This measure gives one of
the clearest indicators in this survey of the problems of the MDC‐T in Inclusive Government, and the
likelihood that leadership problems of the party had rubbed off on the party’s project to earn party
political credit for its governance efforts for the people. All of the established institutions of government
gain substantially improved trust, including the military and the police. Besides the office of the Prime
Minister, it is only the judiciary and the office of the Attorney General that had public trust lower than
50%.
Table 14:
Changing levels of trust in public institutions, 2010 and 2012
Public institution
A Lot
Somewhat
DK / HHE
Just a little
‘10
‘12
‘10
‘12
‘10
‘12
‘10
‘12
Parliament
16
29
31
20
10
8
23
24
Office of the President
19
42
24
16
4
5
21
17
Office of the Prime Minister
30
26
37
22
11
9
9
23
Local government
11
28
37
25
10
4
22
22
Traditional leaders
26
35
34
23
7
7
16
15
Judiciary
‐
27
‐
21
‐
10
‐
21
Attorney general’s office
‐
21
‐
17
‐
21
‐
17
Police
16
40
27
20
2
1
25
18
Military
16
41
30
20
6
3
22
14
Not at all
‘10
‘12
14
15
26
17
8
15
14
18
14
16
‐
15
‐
16
27
19
24
20
Notes: Notes: Q61 (2012), ‘In the current Zimbabwe, how much do you trust each of the following institutions …?’
The political parties were listed amongst as series of public institutions. DK denotes ‘Don’t know’ and HHE to ‘have
not heard enough’.
33
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