Militarisation of Public Institutions, Flawed Electoral Processes and Curtailed Citizen Participation: The Case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Abuse of political office in many African countries has been on the increase in recent years. This has been as a result of incumbent leaders trying to cling to power for a number of reasons ranging from prospects of arrest for human rights violations to being unable to contend with being an ordinary citizen. Through sinister machinations, political leaders have employed a range of tricks and gimmicks to rig elections. In Zimbabwe, militarisation of electoral institutions has been one central means employed to ensure the long-standing incumbent President Robert Mugabe wins all elections. Various other public institutions were militarised through appointing serving or retired military personnel to take charge of these state institutions. Desperate youth and the gullible rural population have been manipulated and urged to arm themselves ‘in defence of their country’ against neo-colonialism, a euphemism for a war cry to cause mayhem and despondency among the population, which has further militarised much of the general electorate. As a consequence, legal process has been widely undermined and political violence of one form or another is an everyday occurrence.