The Militarisation of State Institutions in Zimbabwe, 2002–2017

Abstract

This chapter reveals the complex relationship between the military and Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) politicians that deflected public attention away from and characterised Mugabe’s fall as a military coup. Through a qualitative methodology underpinned by purposive sampling of public statements made by security forces, media statements and utterances by war veterans, including from military commanders, court rulings and newspaper articles before and after the coup, it arrives at the conclusion that a combination of militarisation of key enablers of state power and a lack of elite consensus in ZANU–PF distinguish themselves from the generalised typology of hybrid regimes. The chapter demonstrates that when military interests were threatened by Mugabe and his wife, the security apparatus played its hand to block the rise of dynastic and familial politics. Four zones of power contestations were calculatedly infiltrated by the military for its long-term capturing of both party and state; the media, judiciary, electoral processes and the legislature are examined.