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Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies

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Browsing Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies by Author "Joseph, Rudigi Rukema."

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    Pre and post-electoral violence dynamics in a fragile state: what is the sustainable solution to the electoral violence in Zimbabwe?
    (2017) Makonye, Felix.; Joseph, Rudigi Rukema.
    Elections are a defining characteristic of the tenets for democracy, and thus form an integral part of the democratization process. Over the past three and a half decades, Zimbabwe’s electoral processes have been pervaded by pre and post-electoral violence dynamics throughout the country. The result has been electoral outcomes that are contestable and neither free nor fair thereby becoming the centrepiece of worldwide attention and condemnation by regional, international and other organizations. The purpose of this study is to inform policy on the holding of elections that are sustainable, peaceful, free and fair in Zimbabwe among other things such as to add the voice of scholarship on the extent to which violence has pervaded the country’s elections so that intervention strategies can be designed to rescue the situation. The objectives of this study are to identify the dynamics that lead to pre and post-electoral violence in Zimbabwe, to determine the existing mechanisms to stem pre and post-electoral violence in Zimbabwe and to contribute strategies to mitigate pre and post-electoral violence in Zimbabwe. The focus of the study is Zimbabwe’s electoral processes from independence in 1980 to the present day. The study is purely qualitative in its nature and it appeals to three theoretical frameworks namely the conflict transformation theory, theory of positive and negative peace and the human needs theory. The study found the dynamics pre and post-electoral violence as militarization, ethnicity, draconian legislations and war rhetoric among others. It further found the existing mechanisms to stem violence as the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission and legal recourse among others. The study concludes by suggesting contributions such as demilitarization, international supervision of elections and the presence of observers well before and after elections. All data were presented and analysed using NVIVO software.
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    SADC meditation in Zimbabwe: lost opportunity for lasting solution to the Zimbabwe crisis.
    Chinyere, Petra Rumbidzai.; Joseph, Rudigi Rukema.
    Nearly a decade ago, a Government of National Unity (GNU) was established in Zimbabwe based on the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which was mediated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The unity government was a result of questionable elections which had seen President Robert Mugabe being defeated by Morgan Tsvangirai and Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) losing its parliamentary majority to the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations. Such a trajectory occurred in a country that had been ravaged by socio-economic woes for decades. The establishment of the GNU brought about short-term positive economic and political changes to the state of Zimbabwe. However, approximately seven years after its end, Zimbabwe has returned to the crisis that was meant to be addressed by the GNU. Consequently, the rationale behind this research was to establish whether the GNU in Zimbabwe was a lost opportunity upon which Zimbabwe’s crisis could have been solved. The study was informed by the Ripeness Theory, the Readiness Theory and the Elite Theory. It used a qualitative analytical approach in which data was collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and documentary search. The findings of the research revealed that the SADC-mediated GNU provided an opportunity to end Zimbabwe’s crisis but was affected by the approach used in its formation and implementation. While the SADC-mediated GNU ignored certain sections of the Zimbabwe community throughout its life, the differing interests of the parties impacted negatively on the operations of the agreement. The different political parties that constituted the GNU pursued party interest often ignoring the Global Political Agreement (GPA) itself. As a result, the set objectives of political, economic and security sector reforms among others were not realised. The SADC-mediated GNU thus failed to address Zimbabwe’s crisis. However, the GNU experienced some short-term successes especially in temporarily stabilizing the economy and bringing about political tolerance. Against such a backdrop, the study argued that GNU-related negotiations should be all-involving and all-encompassing for them to be successful. The SADC bloc’s elite-driven approach in dealing with crises situations ought to change as it has not yielded positive results. Additionally, the early warning signs of the bloc have failed and require reconsideration. At the national level, the state of Zimbabwe needs to consider adopting traits of the developmental state model to solve its unending crisis. These and some of the suggested solutions in the study will go a long way in solving crisis situations that may require unity governments and/or even assisting states to deal with economic and politically-related woes within the SADC region.