By Charles Mangogera, Movement for Democratic Change

Prior to the negotiated political settlement that gave birth to the coalition government in 2009 Zimbabwe had been engulfed in a vortex of state sponsored violence that saw thousands of opposition supporters being brutally attacked and tens of thousands more being internally displaced. In a move that divided regional and international opinion, Mugabe had also unleashed violence on white farmers whose land he confiscated for ostensible distribution to landless blacks that he said had been dispossessed of their land during colonialism. As his popularity waned and he faced growing opposition in the late 90s, Mugabe launched a brutal attack on his opponents and also enacted several draconian laws to silence his opponents. A law was passed to muzzle the press. Journalists that were perceived as critical were jailed. Another law banned political meetings and several MDC political meetings were violently broken up as political activists were locked up…Read more.