Zimbabwe Elections 2008 Dossier
Boy in front of Mugabe poster. Photo by Nadine Hutton
It is our pleasure as Heinrich Boell Foundation Southern Africa to present you with our Dossier on the 2008 Elections in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has been one of our partner countries for many years. Against this background it is all the more depressing for us to see how the Zimbabwean population is suffering from the economic and political crisis that has rocked the country in recent years.
With this online dossier, we intend to make a relevant contribution to the debate on Zimbabwe. Together with our contributors from Zimbabwe, we hope to provide some insight into what is happening in the country.

We let experts from Zimbabwe express their views about background of the political and economic situation in the country. We have also invited a number of resource persons from within Zimbabwe as well as experts on Zimbabwe living in the SADC region to express their views on current events around the elections in short and pointed opinion pieces.

We hope that this dossier will provide you with political assessments that are well-founded and fair and that will widen your perspectives on politics in Zimbabwe.

Dr Antonie Katharina Nord
Regional Director
 
Dirk Spilker
Head of Programmes

Opinion
INTERVIEW
Zimbabwe: “Protests Will be an Excuse to Declare a State of Emergency”
A Zimbabwean journalist - one of the few who reports from inside the country and thus prefers to remain anonymous - on the culture of fear and the atmosphere of frustration within the country: "People have reached the stage that if they go to the polling stations, they will not be intimidated into voting for Mugabe. The problem is that Mugabe will instill so much fear in people so that they will be too scared to go the polling stations." more»
Inside a Zimbabwean Polling Station – On Saturday March 29th, 2008 I realised that whatever inspired Munch’s famous painting “The Scream” it was probably comparable to being locked in a room with Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) officials trying to count to 410. By Shari Eppel more»
No More Business as Usual – An increasingly unlikely, but still possible scenario is that Mugabe will rig the elections after all. This could lead to post-election violence or it could lead to the people turning back to their usual day to day struggles for survival – business as usual. By Promise Mkwananzi more»
Zimbabwe at the Crossroads – The atmosphere in Zimbabwe is characterised by anxiety and anger. Since midnight March 29th, 2008 Zimbabweans have been eager to hear the official pronouncement of results by the body running the elections – but to no avail. By Jubilee Masango more»
INTERVIEW
"Rigging Will Always Take Place Under Mugabe" – Interview with Zimbabwean journalist Basildon Peta on the prospects for the March 29, 2008 elections in his country, the options for the divided opposition and the stance of Zimbabwe's neighbours, the international community, and the EU. more»
Background
Zimbabwe Between Military Regime and Civilian State
The Zimbabwean struggle for democracy looks set to continue for some time to come. The MDC-T needs to ensure that future rounds of mediation will take place within a more equitable, framework. By Keren Ben-Zeev more»
The "Toad" and the "Puppet": The Makoni Moment and Opposition Politics in Zimbabwe – It is a symptom of the diminished expectations and shrinking horizons in Zimbabwean politics that Simba Makoni's entry into the 2008 presidential race has created such a stir in the country's body politic. With the country sinking further into the mire of an extended political and economic debacle, the prospect of yet another disastrous Mugabe electoral 'victory' appeared a desultory inevitability. By Brian Raftopoulus more»
Matabeleland: Its Struggle for National Legitimacy, and the Relevance of this in the 2008 Election – Matabeleland consists of three western provinces of Zimbabwe, namely Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Bulawayo. This region, stereotyped as marginalised and underdeveloped, and also as a hotbed of political opposition both historically and currently, is once more poised to play a strategic role in the forthcoming elections. By Shari Eppel more»
Robert Mugabe’s Liberation War Credentials: ZANU-PF’s Winning Card? – The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and its leader President Robert Mugabe have puzzled many by successively ‘winning’ elections in the midst of serious and unprecedented economic and political decline. What are the reasons? What is Mugabe's background? By Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni more»
Photographs from Zimbabwe
 
 
Photos by Nadine Hutton
OPPORTUNITIES
  • The Heinrich Böll Stiftung Southern Africa is looking for a Human Rights Programme Manager. The required qualifications, duties and tasks are laid out here.
  • The Heinrich Böll Stiftung Southern Africa is looking for interns for the second half of 2010. The requirements, duties and tasks are laid out here.
  • Apply for the International Short-Term Fellowship Programme 2010 of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Deadline is the 31 July 2010. For more information click here.
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