An analysis of the challenges to national healing and reconciliation and prospects for development in the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s 2008 political violence

Abstract

Zimbabwe is currently run by a power sharing government created by the Global Political Agreement (GPA) to resolve political conflict that resulted in devastating violence in 2008. This study offers a theoretical analysis of the challenges to national healing, reconciliation and development in Zimbabwe, post June 2008. The study argues that the challenges to national healing and reconciliation are embedded in the struggles for political hegemony. It posits that national healing and reconciliation are processes that have a direct impact on the political ascendency and fortunes of the main rival political parties, the MDC and ZANU-PF. The study also discloses that national healing and reconciliation in Zimbabwe are bleak because the ZANU-PF regime on whose watch violence occurred still controls the levers of political power making national healing and reconciliation difficult. The study stands on Gramsci’s theory of hegemony to analyse the challenges to reconciliation and healing in Zimbabwe. The theory aptly explains the struggles for power and legitimacy which are key elements in reconciliation any reconciliation process.