AFRICA: Zimbabweans will head to the polls later this month to cast their ballots amid allegations that its government security personnel violated political and human rights.
A New York-based human rights watch group published a report exposing abuses committed allegedly by the ZANU-PF-led government against the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and at least 11 other small parties contesting the election.
Ongoing detentions, threats, and kidnappings of opposition candidates, particularly members of the CCC, are mentioned. The conditions for a fair and credible election have drastically worsened.
Zimbabwe’s questionable track record
In 2018, after Robert Mugabe, the country’s longtime leader, was overthrown in a coup, citizens hoped elections would usher in a new era.
However, the electoral commission delayed the announcement of the results, sparking protests in the capital, Harare, that police diffused by using live ammunition. Six people died, and many more were wounded.
Will this election truly usher in the new era Zimbabweans have long hoped for?
Despite the country being abundant in natural resources like minerals and arable land, millions of Zimbabweans make the arduous journey to neighbouring South Africa to earn a living, where they also face the possibility of xenophobic attacks.
Zimbabwe’s economy has not been as successful as other countries in the region. The country’s GDP decreased from 8.5% in 2021 to 3.4% in 2022.
High exchange rates, inefficient resource allocation, increasing levels of informality, poor investment, and inadequate structural reform have all stymied economic progress.
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