The History of Zimbabwe

Rhodesia, or today known as Zimbabwe, was first settled in 1890 by the British Empire and seen as a continuation of Britain land. The Britain's had an ideological view of all of their colonies; they believed that the English race came first, and therefore was superior to all human races. This ideology of superiority left them with no qualms with how they treated the natives of Zimbabwe. An imperialistic government was formed in which only whites were allowed to vote or participate in government. Thus the small minority of whites in Zimbabwe came to have outlandish amounts of power over the natives. Several laws were also passed forbidding Africans in some public places. Ordinances permitted the redistribution of land, which because large portions of the Zimbabwe population were farmers, was detrimental for the natives. Six thousand white farmers seized the best half of the land; leaving the worst half for the six hundred thousand black peasant farmers. This rule continued from 1890 to 1979 with the all white government continuing to oppress the native black population (Ray).

At first the Zimbabweans wanted to change only with the limitations of the imperial constitution; demanding such things as equal access to jobs and the right to participate in their own government. By 1960 there were calls for radical change. Many believed that if they were to have their rights fully recognized that the white minority rule must be overthrown. To achieve this, the National Democratic Party was formed focusing on achieving African rule by gradual means. They wanted to attract the attention of England and have them intervene and force a white hand-over of power.
Shut down in 1961 by the government the NDP simply reconstructed under the name of Zimbabwe African People's Union in 1962. ZAPU's goals were similar to that of NDP. They wanted Zimbabweans to have a hand in their government; and to also eliminate oppression of their people. With ZAPU becoming more radical than ever the government realized that a revolution was immanent and to stem this conflict ZAPU was banned in 1963.

Rather than diminish ZAPU simply went underground but due to internal conflict, mostly ethnic differences, there was a split. This split resulted with the founding of Zimbabwe African National Union. ZANU was still fighting for the same basic rights of ZAPU but with a more direct approach. ZANU was the more violent of the groups, favoring immediate armed confrontations while ZAPU was still striving to have intervention from international forces.

This split hindered the movement for freedom among Zimbabweans. Each party was vying for support of the people and thus fighting each other rather than uniting against their common enemy. In 1964 both groups employed the use of guerrilla warfare; which consisted largely of destruction of white property and attacks on white farmers.

In 1976 ZANU and ZAPU combined forming a Patriotic Front called ZANU-PF. Joshua Nkomo, former president of ZAPU, and Robert Mugabe, important leader of ZANU, were the joint leaders of this new organization. By 1976 Zimbabweans were still fighting for their rights and demanded independence by December 1, 1977 in order to negotiate peace. The imperialistic government continued to refuse this demand so guerrilla warfare again escalated in 1977-1978 to make the government see the seriousness of their demands. By 1979 the conflict was finally resolved, though not by military victory, at the Lancaster House Conference in England. It was here that it was decided that all people would have the right to vote under free elections and that all parties would be allowed to participate. In the election of 1980, the first election of the independent Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe was elected prime minsiter .

Elected Prime Minister Robert Mugabe revised the constitution in 1987, only seven years after election, to make himself President. Since 1980 Robert Mugabe has won every election for Presidency. He continues to preside as President despite national and international recognition that the 1990 election was rigged with the second placing party winning only twenty percent of the vote. His only major opposition is the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai. This faction is split in two factions, one being led by Welshman Ncube, this faction believes in the election to the Senate. The second faction, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, disagrees with this saying that by contesting to the election of Senate is the equivalent to agreeing with Mugabe that elections are free and fair. The new government of Zimbabwe is a Republic consisting of an executive president and a unicameral Parliament. The government of Zimbabwe has characteristics similar to that of the United States.

The President of Zimbabwe is Head of State, Head of Government, and also Commander in Chief of the Defense Forces. In the United States one of the requirements of becoming President is that you must be a natural born citizen. In Zimbabwe a person can be President only if he is a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth or by descent. The age limitations between our country and Zimbabwe are also similar, for the United States one must be thirty-five years of age; in Zimbabwe a citizen my be forty years of age. In Zimbabwe there is also another requirement that the individual running for Presidency is ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe. The President is elected by voters registered on the common roll ninety days before the term of office of the President expires. The President is elected has a six year term unlike the United States President who has a 4 year term. The President has all executive power vested in him and has the duty to uphold the constitution, and ensure that all laws are enforced. He is also able to enter into international conventions, treaties and agreements, proclaim and or terminate martial law. Contrary to the United States President who must have congresses approval to declare war, the Zimbabwean President has the power to declare war and make peace.

In the United States we also have a separate election for the Vice President of which there is only one. In Zimbabwe the Vice President(s) are appointed by the President and it is his decision as to have one or two Vice Presidents. The Vice President(s) shall assist the President in the completion of executive functions, and also perform other functions, including administration of any Act of Parliament or of any Ministry or department. In the case that a Vice President is sick or stops performing his duties the President has the power to appoint a Minister to assume these responsibilities. The Minister will only lose these responsibilities if the President revokes them, if he ceases to hold the position of Minister, or if a new President is elected.

The President also has a cabinet in Zimbabwe similar to that of the United States cabinet. The President chooses Ministers who will continue to serve in the cabinet as long as the President pleases. These Ministers are delegated responsibilities which they are responsibly for under the Presidents supervision.

Zimbabwe's Legislative authority is a combination of the President and Parliament. Parliament was formerly known as the House of Assembly, but the Senate which was abolished in 1990 was reinstated with the existing chamber becoming the National Assembly. The House of Assembly consists of one hundred and fifty members. Of these one hundred and fifty members only one hundred and twenty are voted in by voters registered on the common roll. The remaining thirty are divided as follows; eight are Provincial Governors, appointed by the President, ten are chiefs elected in accordance with the Electoral Law and the remaining twelve are appointed by the President. The President has an overwhelming impact on who is in the House of Assembly so this limits any check and balance system that might be implemented.

If a bill is presented to the President from the House of Assembly then the President will have twenty one days to either assent or with hold his assent. If he with holds his assent which is the equivalent of the President of the United States vetoing a bill then it shall be given back to the House of Assembly and not be presented again. There is only one way in which the House of Assembly can resubmit a bill for assent. First the House of Assembly must wait six months after the bill has been returned to them, then there must be a motion to present the bill again and this motion must be supported by no less than two thirds of all the members of the House of Assembly. If these two things happen then the bill may be presented for a second time to the President. Once it is presented the second time the President will have twenty one days to give his assent unless he simple dissolves the House of Assembly.

The Judicial branch of government is the only one that the President does not have a direct hand in. The Judicial authority is vested in the Supreme Court and High Court. The Judicial system consists of a Chief Justice who is the head of the Judiciary and the judges of the Supreme Court as well as the Judge President and the other judges of the High Court. The Supreme Court is the highest court in Zimbabwe and consists of the Chief Justice and at least if not more than two other judges. The President decides the number of judges that are needed on the Supreme Court. To become a Judge one must have had been a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil or criminal matters in a country in which the common law is Roman Dutch or English and in which English is the official language. Judges must also have not less then seven years, whether continuously or not, qualified to practice as a legal practitioner.

The above concludes the government type of Zimbabwe which is in better condition than the economic system. Zimbabwe has a mixed market economy that is in terrible condition. Weakened by the involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, AIDS, the drought of 1992, and land redistribution problems the Zimbabwean economy continues to suffer.

The war of the Democratic Republic of Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy; thus causing inflation to rise continually from an annual rate of thirty-two percent in 1998 to four hundred and twenty percent in 2004. During this same time the exchange rate fell from twenty-four Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar to four thousand four hundred and fifty-five. The economy is also weakened by AIDS; due to the fact that Zimbabwe has the highest rate of infection in the world thus limiting their labor resources. It is also unlikely that the West will be inclined to do much more than provide humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe due to their political situation.

The country should be able to sustain an economic growth due to its wide range of resources which are unfortunately, improperly managed. They have an important percentage of the world's known reserves of metallurgical-grade chromite; other mineral deposits found in Zimbabwe are coal, platinum, asbestos, copper, nickel, gold, and iron ore. December of 1979 Zimbabwe enjoyed an economic recovery. It inherited rich mineral resources and a strong agricultural base. Thus real growth for 1980-1981 exceeded twenty percent. This growth did not last though due to the drought and depressed foreign demand for the country's mineral exports diminishing the growth rate in 1982, 1983, and 1984. Zimbabwe enjoyed a year of strong economic growth in 1985 but again fell into a slump in 1986 hitting a growth rate of zero.

Zimbabwe's infrastructure has been deteriorating rapidly since the mid-1990's but still remains better than that of most African countries. Agriculture is no longer the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy. Due to land reforms starting in 2000 a sharp drop in the production of tobacco and corn resulted. Tobacco traditionally being the largest export product has dropped to third being passed by gold and cotton which has never happened before in Zimbabwean history. If managed properly the mineral resources with which Zimbabwe is endowed may one day allow them to recover economically but only if their managed properly.

Making great strives since 1890 Zimbabwe has over come many obstacles, and also created many for itself. It may one day become a prospering country but only time will tell.