Takeaways from the Commission of Inquiry Zimbabwe: Post Election Violence 2018

/Executive Summary

President E.D Mnangagwa established the Commission of Inquiry to investigate post- election violence that erupted in Harare two days after polling on 30 July 2018. Several witnesses gave testimonies to the commission with regards to what occurred on the 1st of August 2018 when the military was called in as reinforcement to quell down demonstrators in Harare, leaving six people dead.

This policy brief posits that the Commission of Inquiry established or brought to the fore, four keys contestations and findings –

One: Zimbabwe is a divided and polarized state. The country has two truths. One told by ZANU PF and another told by MDC Alliance. The state of affairs indicates a stalemate at both the elite and ordinary citizen level.

Two: Elite thirst and fight for power as an end in itself is overriding chances of common understanding towards building and reconstructing the state.

Three: Economic affairs play second fiddle to the politics and are used to undermine parties’ claim to power. In the same vein, citizens are used to push elite political agendas disguised as economic struggles.

Finally, and certainly not least, the inquiry laid bare the entrenchment of the security sector in the politics of the country. Disentangling this role must form part of the national question.

Source: Tutuma Advisory Group

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