Zimbabwe’s Hijacked Election

Issue Date October 2002
Volume 13
Issue 4
Page Numbers 87-101
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Realizing that power would slip from his grasp if he allowed an honest presidential election in 2002, longtime strongman Robert Mugabe resorted to antidemocratic tactics that set a new low in cruelty and dishonesty.

About the Author

John Makumbe, senior lecturer in political science at the University of Zimbabwe, is coauthor (with Daniel Compagnon) of Behind the Smokescreen: The Politics of Zimbabwe’s 1995 General Elections (1996). He is currently chairing the Zimbabwe chapter of Transparency International, an international nongovernmental organization devoted to fighting corruption.

View all work by John Makumbe

Further Reading

Volume 19, Issue 4

Zimbabwe’s Long Agony

Once hailed as liberators, Zimbabwe’s ruling party now clings to power through violent repression. How did the country’s founding father become its dictator, and what patterns in his party’s past…

Volume 28, Issue 1

Violence Against Women in Politics

The use of force and intimidation against women trying to take part in politics is a growing problem in many places. Such violence assumes a number of different forms, but…

Volume 26, Issue 2

The “Power-Sharing” Trap

A review of Power Politics in Zimbabwe by Michael Bratton.