2. Elections in Zimbabwe
It is evident that Zimbabwe leads the other SADC countries in terms of violence during
elections (RAU. 2016). Using the ACLED database again, Zimbabwe leads the region –
Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa – in the frequency of violations during
elections (46%). Only Mozambique comes close (42%), and this is in a country where there
is a highly contested political settlement in the aftermath of a very bitter civil war. South
Africa and Namibia have about half as many violent events during elections and Angola
virtually none.
The extent of the violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe has varied from election to election
(CSVR. 2009). The elections in 2000, 2002 and 2008 were all violent, and arguably 2008 was
the most violent of the three. However, it should be pointed out that both 2002 and 2008 were
elections in which there was a poll for the presidency, and accordingly the stakes for these
two elections were very high. The significance of the violence in polls where the presidency
is at issue is simple: the previous (Lancaster House) constitution was amended in 1987 to
create an executive presidency, and the powers assigned to the presidency were enormous. It
can almost be claimed that whichever party won the presidential poll could claim the state,
and hence losing the presidency could not be offset by having a controlling majority in
parliament. This was seen very clearly during the period of the Inclusive Government
established by the Global Political Agreement. The point is that elections generally are very
severe tests of popularity in Zimbabwe, and presidential elections are critical to the
maintenance of political power. Hence, rules are broken in the pursuit of maintaining political
power.
This is not to say that violence and human rights violations are exclusive to elections:
political power can be challenged outside of elections. Thus, the interregnum between
elections in Zimbabwe since 1998 are also characterised by violence and human rights
violations.
Table 5.
Comparison of average monthly human rights violations: election months & nonelection months.
[Source: Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum: Political Violence Monthly Reports]
Election
(n=21)
No
Election
(n=60)
df
t
Sig (2-tailed)
Abduction
97.9
30.6
79
3.703
0.000
Arrest & detention
96.4
111.7
79
-.378
ns
Assault
0.6
0.2
78
3.350
0.001
Attempted murder
4.4
1.0
75
2.040
0.050
Death threat
0.2
0.5
78
2.903
0.005
Disappearance
25.8
14.3
75
-.377
ns
Displacement
73.8
113.7
79
.739
ns
2.2
1.2
79
-1.063
ns
Murder
94.7
35.8
79
1.207
ns
Political discrimination
47.8
15.5
79
2.626
ns
0.4
0.2
79
2.493
0.015
Freedoms
Property related
Rape
Torture
School closure
0.0
0.8
79
.982
ns
94.1
33.9
79
2.821
0.006
0.0
0.8
79
-.642
ns
5