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All about Zim
29/03/2005 13:36 - (SA)
Harare - Following are key facts about Zimbabwe, which holds general elections on Thursday. Geography: The country, an enclave in Southeastern Africa, covers an area of 390 300 km. Borders Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia. Population: 13 million inhabitants in 2002 (World Bank). Capital: Harare. Climate: Tropical; Moderated by altitude; Rainy season (November to March) Languages: English (official). Ethnic Groups: African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1% . Religions: Christianity (5O%, mostly Anglican), animism (40%). History/Politics: British colonials from South Africa, led by Cecil Rhodes who gave the territory his name, arrived in 1890. In 1923, South Rhodesia became a British colony. In 1965, the minority white government's prime minister, Ian Smith, broke with Britain and unilaterally declared independence. From 1972-1979, an uprising against the regime by the majority blacks, led by Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, left 27 000 dead. In April 1980, under the Lancaster House Agreement, Rhodesia proclaimed independence under the name Zimbabwe. Canaan Banana took the ceremonial post of president and Robert Mugabe took the real power as prime minister. In 1987, he became the first prime minister to be given executive powers. In February 2000, Zimbabweans rejected a proposed constitution expanding Mugabe's powers and expropriating white-owned farms. Shortly afterwards, hundreds of white-owned farms were seized by squatters and pro-Mugabe war veterans in a violent campaign to reclaim what they said had been stolen from them by colonial settlers. In June 2000, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front barely kept its hold on power against the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which took nearly half of the seats in parliament. In March 2002, Mugabe was re-elected with 56.2% of the vote, against 41.9% for the MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai. The opposition rejected the result, citing widespread fraud. Sanctions were imposed on Mugabe and his entourage by western authorities. Breakdown of Government: According to the April 1980 constitution, amended in November 1987, Zimbabwe is a sovereign republic, and guarantees the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, regardless of race, tribe, or place of origin. A) Executive and legislature Under the 1987 amendment to the constitution, executive authority in Zimbabwe is vested in a president, who is nominated and elected to a six-year term by the members of parliament. The president appoints the vice-president and a Cabinet. Legislative power in Zimbabwe is vested in the parliament. The Lancaster House pre-independence agreement on the constitution provided for a bicameral body consisting of a 120-seat House of Assembly and a 40-seat Senate; the 20 seats in the House of Assembly reserved for white members under the Lancaster House Agreement were abolished late in 1987. When the agreement on the constitution expired in April 1990, the bicameral parliament was replaced by a new, single-chamber House of Assembly, with a maximum six-year term (previously five years). It comprises 150 members, of which 120 are directly elected; 10 places are reserved for traditional chiefs, 8 are for the provincial governors appointed by the president, and the remainder are for other presidential appointees. B) Political Parties The two leading political parties were, until December 1987, the ruling Shona-based Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) and the main, Ndebele-based opposition group, the Patriotic Front-Zimbabwe African People's Union (PF-ZAPU). After long and, at times, violent, confrontation, they united as Zanu-PF in 1987 and 1988, turning Zimbabwe into a de facto one-party state. In 1996 the Zanu-PF formally abandoned its adherence to Marxism-Leninism. A new opposition party, the Zimbabwe Unity Movement, was established in 1989 but faded into obscurity in the early 1990s. In October 1994 the United Party was formed by a merger of the United African National Council, the smallest of the pre-independence nationalist parties, and the Forum Party of Zimbabwe. The other party was Zanu-Ndonga. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai, was founded in September 1999 and is currently the second largest political party with 57 seats in the National Assembly. Economy: Agriculture: tobacco (main source of foreign exchange). Mineral wealth (platinum, gold). Zimbabwe, once considered the breadbasket of southern Africa and cited as an economic example to the continent, is undergoing an economic crisis, with rising unemployment, triple-digit inflation and plunging foreign exchange reserves. Three quarters of the population lives below the poverty line. Malnutrition is becoming chronic and occasionally deteriorates into famine. In February, the International Monetary Fund gave Zimbabwe six months to make its payments due to the institution and reform its economy to avoid expulsion. Foreign debt: $4.445bn in 2003 (World Bank). Gross National Product: $480 per person in 2002 (BM). Armed forces: Estimated at 29 000 men, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. In 1998, Zimbabwe intervened militarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the side of the Kinshasa regime, which was threatened with a rebellion. The last Zimbabwean troops left the country at the end of 2002. |
