From ‘Defending Sovereignty’ to ‘Fighting Corruption’: the political place of law in Zimbabwe after November 2017

Journal article

In this article, I examine the shifting language of debates over law and justice in Zimbabwe in the run-up to, and following, the November 2017 coup. I argue that the rhetoric ZANU-PF drew upon to secure its authority and negotiate legitimacy through law, shifted from a focus of ‘sovereignty’ and ‘protection’, to one of of battling ‘corruption’ and ‘criminality’. At the same time, there remained a consistency in practices of repression, where the legal system was used to target a select part of the country’s population, those opposed to ZANU-PF and its vision for the future. I focus on debates of succession within the judiciary and the battle for succession of the ZANU-PF presidency that motivated the events of November 2017 on one hand, and on a discussion of corruption charges and the aftermath of the August 1 2018 violence on the other. I show that the complex and at times competing understandings of how the Zimbabwean state ought to function more broadly, and relate to law more specifically, were not radically altered by the coup.

Authors: Verheul, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Journal: Journal of Asian and African Studies
• Volume: 56
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 189-203
• Publication date: 2021-03-18
• Acceptance date: 2020-12-16
• DOI: 10.1177/0021909620986587
• EISSN: 1745-2538
• ISSN: 0021-9096
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR