Zimbabwe

Geography

Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in south-central Africa, is slightly smaller than California. It is bordered by Botswana on the west, Zambia on the north, Mozambique on the east, and South Africa on the south.

History

The remains of early humans, dating back 500,000 years, have been discovered in present-day Zimbabwe. The land's earliest settlers, the Khoisan, date back to 200 B.C. After a period of Bantu domination, the Shona people ruled, followed by the Nguni and Zulu peoples. By the mid-19th century the descendants of the Nguni and Zulu, the Ndebele, had established a powerful warrior kingdom.

The first British explorers, colonists, and missionaries arrived in the 1850s, and the massive influx of foreigners led to the establishment of the territory Rhodesia, named after Cecil Rhodes of the British South Africa Company. In 1923, European settlers voted to become the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia. After a brief federation with Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Nyasaland (now Malawi) in the post–World War II period, Southern Rhodesia (also known as Rhodesia) chose to remain a colony when its two partners voted for independence in 1963.

White-Minority Government Declares Independence From Britain

On Nov. 11, 1965, the conservative white-minority government of Rhodesia declared its independence from Britain. The country resisted the demands of black Africans, and Prime Minister Ian Smith withstood British pressure, economic sanctions, and guerrilla attacks in his effort to uphold white supremacy. On March 1, 1970, Rhodesia formally proclaimed itself a republic. Heightened guerrilla war and a withdrawal of South African military aid in 1976 marked the beginning of the collapse of Smith's 11 years of resistance.
Black nationalist movements were led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa of the African National Congress and Ndabaningi Sithole, who were moderates, and guerrilla leaders Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Joshua Nkomo of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), who advocated revolution.
On March 3, 1978, Smith, Muzorewa, Sithole, and Chief Jeremiah Chirau signed an agreement to transfer power to the black majority by Dec. 31, 1978. They formed an executive council, with chairmanship rotating but with Smith retaining the title of prime minister. Blacks were named to each cabinet ministry, serving as coministers with the whites already holding these posts. African nations and rebel leaders immediately denounced the action, but Western governments were more reserved, although none granted recognition to the new regime.

First Multiracial Elections Held

The white minority finally consented to hold multiracial elections in 1980, and Robert Mugabe won a landslide victory. The country achieved independence on April 17, 1980, under the name Zimbabwe. Mugabe eventually established a one-party socialist state, but by 1990 he had instituted multiparty elections and in 1991 deleted all references to Marxism-Leninism and scientific socialism from the constitution. Parliamentary elections in April 1995 gave Mugabe's party a stunning victory with 63 of the 65 contested seats, and in 1996 Mugabe won another six-year term as president.

In 2000, veterans of Zimbabwe's war for independence in the 1970s began squatting on land owned by white farmers in an effort to reclaim land taken under British colonization—one-third of Zimbabwe's arable land was owned by 4,000 whites. In Aug. 2002, Mugabe ordered all white commercial farmers to leave their land without compensation. Mugabe's support for the squatters and his repressive rule has led to foreign sanctions against Zimbabwe. Once heralded as a champion of the anticolonial movement, Mugabe is now viewed by much of the international community as an authoritarian ruler responsible for egregious human rights abuses and for running the economy of his country into the ground.

Power-Sharing Agreement

President Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed to a power-sharing deal in September that called on the leaders to share executive authority. Under the deal, Tsvangirai will serve as prime minister and the opposition will control 16 ministries. The governing party will control 15; Mugabe will continue as president. South African president Thabo Mbeki brokered the deal, but his close ties to Mugabe prompted observers and allies of Tsvangirai to question his neutrality. Both sides, however, balked at suggestions by negoitators that Mugabe and Tsvangirai share control over the Ministry of Home Affairs, which controls the police force, stalling implementation of the agreement. Talks dragged on for the remainder of 2008, but the two side failed to reach consensus.
As if life weren't unbearable enough in Zimbabwe, with its residents facing hunger, empty store shelves, a nonexistent health system, rampant unemployment, inflation a staggering 231 million percent, and the obvious political instability, a cholera epidemic broke out in August 2008. At least 565 people died from the disease by the end of the year, and another 12,000 were infected.
Tsvangirai agreed in January 2009 to enter into a power-sharing government with Mugabe, and he was sworn in as prime minister in February. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change assumed control 13 of the 31 ministries in the new government, while Mugabe's Zanu-PF was allocated 15. The parties share responsibility for the contested home-affairs ministry, which oversees the police. The relationship between Mugabe and Tsvangirai failed to improve, and they squabbled more than they governed. Mugabe didn't conceal his antipathy toward the power-sharing deal, and Tsvangirai accused Mugabe of thwarting any attempts at governing and for of inciting violence against his supporters.
One of their primary tasks was to draft a new constitution. After years of back and forth, Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change produced a draft constitution in January 2013. Voters approved the document in a March 2013 referendum. The constitution weakened the presidency by imposing term limits on future presidents, eliminating the president's veto power, and devolving power to the provinces. In addition, it expands civil liberties with a bill of rights and creates peace and reconciliation, election and anti-corruption commissions.