Power and Struggle as Zimbabwe Continues to Slide

February 15, 2012 by Amelie A. Barratt

Happy anniversary, of sorts, as February 10, 2012 marked the three-year anniversary for Zimbabwe’s power sharing government. Beginning in 2009, President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party has shared power with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party after Mugabe’s thirty-year presidential reign.  These two parties, MDC and ZANU-PF, have had a difficult relationship.

President Mugabe’s control over Zimbabwe’s security forces has allowed him to oppress any opposition from the MDC. Even most recently, during a Valentine’s Day march organized by the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), security forces used overt violence against these unarmed protesters. This highlighted Mugabe’s willingness to use brutal force to maintain the upper hand in this “power share” compromise.

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