From the Booth to the Dock: 2018 elections in Zimbabwe and the elusive search for electoral integrity
- Authors: Mwonzora, Gift , Xaba, Mzingaye Brilliant
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159946 , vital:40358 , https://doi.org/10.1080/14662043.2020.1813457
- Description: The issue of presidential election petitions seems to be repeating itself with regularity in much of Africa, thus warranting the need for thorough analysis. Utilising the 2018 presidential election petition in Zimbabwe, the article examines whether electoral integrity and legitimacy can be derived from court-based action. Data for this article was gleaned from case law analysis, review of expert analysis from constitutional lawyers and election experts, video evidence, in-depth and critical reading of grey material. The article concludes that there are limitations in relying on litigation in seeking to realise electoral justice in much of Africa, including in Zimbabwe.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Social media and citizen mobilisation in the biometric voter registration (BVR) process in Zimbabwe:
- Authors: Mwonzora, Gift
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178953 , vital:40104 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2020.1746753
- Description: Considerable research has, in recent years, focused on the utility of social media platforms in political campaigns in both developed and developing countries, but there has not been significant analysis of social media use in voter registration campaigns. In seeking to address this lacuna in the literature, this article examines the use and efficacy of social media networking sites (SNS), namely Facebook and Twitter, in mobilising, informing and educating citizens to participate in a new system of biometric voter registration implemented in Zimbabwe. The article draws on a qualitative research methodology. The article contends that social media use amplified political knowledge of the Zimbabwean electorate ahead of the 2018 national election as exemplified in the upsurge of voter registrants under the biometric voter registration system.
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- Date Issued: 2020
A critical analysis of the role of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the democratisation process in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2016
- Authors: Mwonzora, Gift
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8093 , vital:21353
- Description: The thesis provides a critical analysis of the role of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in contributing to processes of democratisation in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2016. The MDC was formed in 1999 and it became the most important opposition party to the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. During this period, though, the MDC also entered into a coalition government with ZANU-PF under the Government of National Unity (GNU) from 2009 to 2013. In characterising the Zimbabwean state as a semi-authoritarian regime with a defiant ruling party, the thesis identifies and examines the significant challenges faced by the MDC in seeking democratisation, including within the realms of electoral, constitutional and legislative change. At the same time, the MDC suffered from significant internal problems including major splits, with the original MDC becoming MDC-Tsvangirai (MDC-T) in 2005. In focusing on the MDC and democratisation over the entire course of the party’s existence, the thesis is able to identify any important differences between the pre-GNU period, the GNU period and the post-GNU period. As well, it is able to consider the changing relationships between the MDC and the pro-democracy forces from which it first emerged, namely urban civil society and trade unions. The thesis concludes that the effectiveness of the MDC in bringing about democratisation has been highly uneven across the realms of electoral, constitutional and legislative change, and that any changes are necessarily tentative and subject to reversals given the ongoing semi-authoritarian regime in which the ruling ZANU-PF party has in effect fused with the state. Though there has been some evidence of democratic transition in Zimbabwe under the influence of the MDC (and MDC-T), more far-reaching democratic consolidation remains elusive. The fieldwork for the thesis is in large part based on a qualitative research methodology, involving key informant interviews, observations, primary documentation, and participation in political rallies and public lectures.
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- Date Issued: 2017