Some Perceptions on the Poverty Question in Zimbabwe

Makeshift housing in Hopley Farm, Harare

By Busani Mpofu The World Bank estimated urban poverty in Zimbabwe in 1990/91 to be 12 percent while the 1995 Poverty Assessment Study found urban poverty to be 39 percent. In January 2009, Save the Children estimated that 10 out of 13 million Zimbabweans, over 75 percent of the population, were living in ‘desperate poverty.’ […]

more... »

Fri, September 16 2011 » Essays, Zimbabwe Review » No Comments

An overview of the circumstances of the Unity Accord of 1987 in comparison to those of the Global Political Agreement of 2008

In Zimbabwe in 2008, the March Presidential election failed to produce an outright winner, although Morgan Tsvangirai won 47% of the vote to Robert Mugabe’s 43%. The ensuing state orchestrated violence reduced the June run off to an illegitimate one-man race, as Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew, citing impossible conditions for his supporters. Since then, there has […]

more... »

Sun, February 15 2009 » Essays, Global Political Agreement, History » No Comments

Political Crisis, Mediation and the Prospects for Transitional Justice in Zimbabwe

On the 15th September 2008 Zanu PF and the two MDC formations signed a political agreement brokered by Thabo Mbeki under the mandate of SADC. The agreement was the culmination of a process that had begun in March 2007, which was itself preceded by various other attempts by African leaders, as far back as 2004, […]

more... »

Thu, January 15 2009 » Essays, Global Political Agreement, Transitional justice » No Comments

Transitional Justice Options in Zimbabwe for 2009

The year 2008 began with high hopes for a more free and fair election in Zimbabwe, and with the accompanying possibilities of this opening up sufficient space for the nation to begin to redress its one hundred years of state violence and impunity. However, the year is heading into its final weeks with little to […]

more... »

Thu, January 15 2009 » Essays, Transitional justice » No Comments

“A Tale of Three Dinner Plates” – forensic, narrative and psychological truths and the challenges facing human rights researchers in Zimbabwe

Human rights reporting in Zimbabwe has been extensive in the last few years, and civics have played a monumental role in keeping Zimbabwe in the public eye – but human rights reports have a very specific mandate and a very moral intent. It is their task to keep track of what could be called “forensic […]

more... »

Fri, February 15 2008 » Conflict resolution, Essays, Transitional justice » No Comments