Operation Mavhoterapapi (English: Operation Where You Put Your X), was a large scale Zimbabwean government campaign to punish those who supposedly voted for the Movement for Democratic Change in the 2008 presidential election rather than for ZANU-PF. [1] [2]
However, the campaign met with harsh condemnation from Zimbabwean opposition parties, church groups, non-governmental organizations, and the wider international community.
Until roughly 2,000 years ago, what would become Zimbabwe was populated by ancestors of the San people. Bantu inhabitants of the region arrived and developed ceramic production in the area. A series of trading empires emerged, including the Kingdom of Mapungubwe and Kingdom of Zimbabwe. In the 1880s, the British South Africa Company began its activities in the region, leading to the colonial era in Southern Rhodesia.
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare. The second largest city is Bulawayo. A country of roughly 15 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most common. It was once known as the "Jewel of Africa" for its great prosperity.
Catharine Letitia Hoey, Baroness Hoey, better known as Kate Hoey, is a Northern Irish politician and life peer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Home Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and Minister for Sport from 1999 to 2001. A former member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Vauxhall from 1989 to 2019.
The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second Chimurenga as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia . The conflict pitted three forces against one another: the Rhodesian white minority-led government of Ian Smith ; the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, the military wing of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union; and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army of Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union.
Operation Murambatsvina, also officially known as Operation Restore Order, was a large-scale Zimbabwean government campaign to forcibly clear slum areas across the country. The campaign started in 2005 and according to United Nations estimates has affected at least 700,000 people directly through loss of their homes or livelihood and thus could have indirectly affected around 2.4 million people. Robert Mugabe and other government officials characterised the operation as a crackdown against illegal housing and commercial activities, and as an effort to reduce the risk of the spread of infectious disease in these areas.
Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara is a Zimbabwean politician. He became the president of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in February 2006. He has worked as a director and CEO of Africa Technology and Business Institute since September 2003. Under a September 2008 power-sharing agreement, Mutambara served in the government as one of two Deputy Prime Ministers from 2009 to 2013.
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is a Zimbabwean revolutionist and politician who has served as President of Zimbabwe since 24 November 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former President Robert Mugabe, he held a series of cabinet portfolios and was Mugabe's Vice President until November 2017, when he was dismissed before coming to power in a coup d'état. He secured his first full term as president in the disputed 2018 general election.
There were widespread reports of systematic and escalating violations of human rights in Zimbabwe under the regime of Robert Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF, between 1980 and 2017.
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu was a Zimbabwean politician who was Minister of Information and Publicity from 2007 to 2008. He was also a member of the ZANU-PF Politburo.
Amos Bernard Muvengwa Midzi was a Zimbabwean politician who served in the Cabinet successively as Minister of Energy and Power Development and Minister of Mines and Mining Development from 2002 to 2009.
Obert Moses Mpofu is a Zimbabwean politician, who served as Minister of Home Affairs from 2017 to September 2018. Previously he was Minister of Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion; Minister of Industry and International Trade; Minister of Mines and Mining Development; and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development. The Cabinet of Zimbabwe was later dissolved on 27 November 2017. He was reappointed as Minister of Home Affairs in Mnangagwa's first cabinet on 30 November 2017. The Culture portfolio was added to his ministry. Mpofu was later removed from the Zimbabwe cabinet in September 2018.
Kembo Dugish Campbell Mohadi, is a Zimbabwean politician and former Vice-President of Zimbabwe who served from 28 December 2017 to 1 March 2021. He briefly served as the Minister of Defence, Security and War Veterans in 2017. Previously he was Minister of State for National Security in the President's Office from 2015 to 2017 and Minister of Home Affairs from 2002 to 2015.
Ignatius Morgen Chiminya Chombo is a Zimbabwean politician who was Finance Minister of Zimbabwe in 2017. Previously he has served in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe as Minister of Home Affairs from 2015–17, Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development from 2000–2015.
Campaigning for the first round of the presidential election held in Zimbabwe on 29 March 2008 took place from February to March. There were three major candidates: President Robert Mugabe of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and the independent candidate Simba Makoni.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) from 1975 to 1980 and led its successor political party, the ZANU – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), from 1980 to 2017. Ideologically an African nationalist, during the 1970s and 1980s he identified as a Marxist–Leninist, and as a socialist after the 1990s.
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai was a Zimbabwean politician who was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He was President of the Movement for Democratic Change, and later the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), and a key figure in the opposition to former President Robert Mugabe.
Operation Ngatipedzenavo, was a large scale Zimbabwean government assassination plot intended to eliminate the MDC leadership and punish those who supposedly voted for the Movement for Democratic Change in the 2008 presidential election rather than for ZANU-PF.
The president of Zimbabwe is the head of state of Zimbabwe and head of the executive branch of the government of Zimbabwe. The president chairs the national cabinet and is the chief commanding authority of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
General elections were held in Zimbabwe on 29 March 2008 to elect the President and Parliament. Because of Zimbabwe's dire economic situation, the elections were expected to provide incumbent President Robert Mugabe with his toughest electoral challenge to date. Mugabe's opponents were critical of the handling of the electoral process, and the government was accused of planning to rig the election. Human Rights Watch said that the election was likely to be "deeply flawed."
Squatting in Zimbabwe is the settlement of land or buildings without the permission of the owner. Squatting began under colonialism. After Zimbabwe was created in 1980, peasant farmers and squatters disputed the distribution of land. Informal settlements have developed on the periphery of cities such as Chitungwiza and the capital Harare. In 2005, Operation Murambatsvina evicted an estimated 700,000 people.