Socio-economic rights in post-Mugabe Zimbabwe

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Date

2018

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Dullah Omar Institute

Abstract

From 1980 to 2017, Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe through a regime that posed as ‘democratic’ but which for all intents and purposes was a dictatorship. The power of the government stemmed not from the will of the people but its control of the armed forces and intelligence operatives. As a result, human rights abuses were commonplace. Poor governance, coupled with sanctions, led to the collapse of social systems. Poverty and hunger were the order of the day, and many basic socio-economic rights (SERs) could not be realised. In 2017, the military intervened and succeeded in pressurising Mugabe into resigning. His former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, took over as president, promising a raft of changes, including respect for human rights. Against this backdrop, we look at developments in human rights, in particular SERs, since Mugabe’s exit.

Description

Keywords

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe, Human rights abuses, Dictatorship, Socio-economic rights (SERs)

Citation

Kondo, T. (2018). Socio-economic rights in post-Mugabe Zimbabwe. ESR Review, 19(2): 2-5.