Zimbabwe: Injustice and Political Reconciliation (review)

Zimbabwe: Injustice and Political Reconciliation is a collection of essays contributed by various Zimbabwean scholars concerning a broad array of issues and coedited by Brian Raftopoulos and Tyrone Savage. Its foreword mentions that the local Institute for Justice and Reconciliation created a forum for the contributors to debate how Zimbabwe may move forward from sociopolitical issues that have haunted its recent past.

The editors’ aim in publishing this book is to present and discuss the problems, challenges, and limitations of reconciliation in Zimbabwe in the midst of injustice and inequality from colonial rule, authoritarian politics, and international pressures. Also, the book documents political responses that have surfaced from such a situation of political grievance. Most importantly, the editors wish to show that the essays are “a work in progress,” hoping that their publication will stimulate further discussion on the topic of political issues and political reconciliation in Zimbabwe.

The book is divided into fifteen chapters, including an introduction by Raftopoulos and contributions from Lloyd M. Sachikonye, Rob Davies, Shari Eppel, Paul Themba Nyathi, Martin R. Rupiya, Charles Goredema, Wallace Chuma, Teresa Barnes, Robert Muponde, Karin Alexander, James Muzondidya, Brian Kagoro, Deprose T. Muchena, and Ian Phimister.

The chapters, which can be grouped into sections, are based on underlying themes. The first two chapters discuss the economy of 1980s Zimbabwe and reasons behind prolonging the land-redistribution process, which took place some twenty years after independence. Sachikonye, in a clearly written chapter, examines the problems of reconciliation in relation to land reform. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 deal with the militaristic aspects of governance by the ruling political party, Zanu-PF. The chapter by Shari Eppel provides an historical account of the Gukurahundi, while the chapter by Paul Themba Nyathi addresses the concerns of war veterans in the same era. Martin Rupiya discusses the professionalization and politicization of the military under Zanu-PF rule, making suggestions for creating stability within the Zimbabwean military.

On the judicial and media fronts, chapters 6 and 7 discuss how the government has intervened. The rest of the book, chapters 8–12, deals with various topics in the construction of nationalism and the discourses of history. Toward those ends, Teresa Barnes discusses the history of racial unity in the educational system. Raftopoulos considers the outcomes of constructing racial unity in the society as a whole. In chapter 10, Robert Muponde analyzes Prime Minister Robert Mugabe’s rhetoric concerning land and “strangers,” mostly by looking at analogous examples in literary traditions. Chapters 11 and 12, contributed by Karin Alexander and James Muzondidya, respectively, discuss how minorities—whites and nonwhites—have been affected by Zanu-PF policy. In chapter 13, Brian Kagoro discusses several aspects of the debate concerning the 2000 constitutional referendum. Deprose Muchena, in chapter 14, adds an often overlooked aspect of sociopolitical interactions by considering the role of Christian churches in reconciliation and their failure to provide adequate mediation. In the final chapter, Ian Phimister outlines and debates South Africa’s position on the Zimbabwe crisis, noting that assistance is not only well within South Africa’s power, but also within its interest.

Utilizing an easy-to-read journalistic style overall, the contributors to the volume offer thorough commentaries on the patterns of injustice in Zimbabwe and often include extensive data to support their criticisms and recommendations on how the government and others in power can remedy injustices and finish the process of reconciliation. At times, these suggestions seem to trivialize crises. For example, Robert Muponde, discussing the fact that Zimbabwe is “a society whose cultural politics perpetuates repression” (p. 19), asserts that “vocabularies and practices of these ‘mindsets’ should be changed.” More concretely, Wallace Chuma, discussing the function of the media, suggests that institutional structures should be established to guarantee editorial and programming autonomy for both the press and broadcast media, and that they should be funded by the national treasury to make them accountable to parliamentary authority. Although this may be how free media should function, it is hard to...