Zimbabwe Peace Protests (#Thisflag Movement)
By Lucas Peterhans
After being elected to power in 1980, Robert Mugabe consolidated power and rapidly took control of Zimbabwe. Now serving his seventh term, President Mugabe has controlled the nation throughout the decades by using fear and brutal force against any opposition, arresting his political rivals and abusing protestors. However, as the economy took a decline in the 1990’s, several different non-violent protest movements have risen against Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) party, many of them failing to create any type of social or political change.
Historically, the failure of the opposition movements has been due to police brutality against non-violent movements and lack of unity from the people. The many diverse groups of protestors have not been able to unite against President Mugabe and the ZANU PF party. Additionally, police and military forces swiftly put down any protest movement that did manage to gain momentum, resulting in few successful protests throughout the years. The combination of these two factors has created an opposition that is both split into factions and scared of government oppression. While President Mugabe and his government have been politically shutting down protestors, the economy has made it difficult for any major opposition to occur as well. For over a decade, Zimbabwe has been in an economic crisis resulting in extreme hyperinflation and massive unemployment. Much of this crisis is due to severe sanctions that both the U.S and EU have placed on Mugabe. Although many of the original sanctions have been rescinded since their implementation in early 2000, President Mugabe still blames much of the current economic strife on their existence. Without proper economic means, it can be very difficult for a movement to get massive participation. Adding the fear that the citizens have from the political oppression, it begins to become clear why very little progress has been made until very recently in the anti-Mugabe protests. Over the past few months, a new movement has risen using technology and a youthful crowd to protest. After celebrating Zimbabwean Independence in late April 2016, pastor Evan Mawarire posted a video to online social media in which he wore a Zimbabwean flag and criticized the government. In the video, he complains about how the government has failed to provide the people with even the basic means for survival. This claim resonated with Zimbabweans, as the country faces extreme economic problems, as well as food shortages and drought. Quickly, the video gained popularity throughout the nation, as people who were also fed up with the mistakes their government had been making adopted the #ThisFlag twitter tag. This new, non-violent movement has consisted of energetic youths who have known nothing else but life under Mugabe. |
The movement achieved one of its largest and most successful protests in early July when a nationwide stay-away took place. On July 6th, several main cities, the capital Harare among them, were almost entirely shutdown as the nation showed its discontent with the government. A large attribution of success lies with the #ThisFlag movement, as social media was the primary form of communication for protestors. More recently, the movement has continued to gain both internal and external support against the harsh and corrupt actions of the government.
By using new technology and young citizen participation, movements such as the #ThisFlag movement have implemented social media to successfully gain support from formerly split factions. Although many different social media accounts lead protests against the government, the new and easy ways to communicate with each other have led to considerable participation in many strikes and other protests that have occurred in the nation to date. Additionally, the adherence to non-violence has allowed the movement to gain legitimacy and sympathy. Currently the police and military forces are reported to be losing faith in Mugabe, as many veteran associations have already begun to speak out against him. Along with the current economic failings, the government is losing its multiple footholds used to control the nation, with opposition on the rise. The current protests in Zimbabwe have begun to successfully implement social media in order to communicate effectively and plan accordingly. The movement is diverse, but agrees on several points on which the protests focus. The current movements have gained so much popularity that recently President Mugabe has been discussing the possibility of his retirement. While at 92 this may seem like a normal course of action, the President is known for consistently saying that he plans to rule until he dies, showing that progress is being made. While no changes have been made to date, the #ThisFlag movement has been successful in gaining massive support, taking advantage of divisions within the ZANU PF party to promote corruption-free elections and a new era of government in Zimbabwe. |
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