The Quest for Transitional Justice in the Post-Mugabe Era

Tobias Guzura ()
Additional contact information
Tobias Guzura: Zimbabwe Open University

A chapter in Making Politics in Zimbabwe’s Second Republic, 2023, pp 25-44 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The 15th of November 2017 was a watershed moment in Zimbabwean history, marking a new era in Zimbabwean politics, as the military executed a coup deposing long-ruling Robert Mugabe, ultimately replacing him with his recently fired deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa. His fall ushered in great hope as incoming President Mnangagwa articulated a policy of openness that many Zimbabweans believed would lay a foundation for pursuing transitional justice. Mnangagwa vowed a break from Mugabe’s authoritarian rule and economic mismanagement, declaring a “new Zimbabwe” that is “open for business”. In his inaugural speech, Mnangagwa provided pointers to his stance on reconciliation and transitional justice when he said that “I thus humbly appeal to all of us that we let bygones be bygones, readily embracing each other in defining a new destiny”. To the discerning, this clearly showed his unwillingness to accept culpability for past injustices. Against this background, this chapter provides a critique regarding the prospects of attaining transitional justice under Mnangagwa’s watch. The chapter posits that the lack of a genuine transition post-Mugabe has dented the prospects of transitional justice and the agency entrusted with this task, the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission, lacks the necessary teeth and autonomy to execute its mandate.

Keywords: Mnangagwa; Mugabe; Transitional justice; Violence; Zimbabwe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:aaechp:978-3-031-30129-2_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031301292

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-30129-2_2

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().