Towards Peacebuilding? Mapping Efforts of the Government of National Unity to Prevent Electoral Violence in Zimbabwe

Politically motivated violence in pre and post-elections became a challenge in Zimbabwe after the founding elections in 1980. The period leading to the June 2008 run-off elections saw massive human rights abuses and state orchestrated political violence in the country. It is against such a contextual backdrop that the main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the elections in which President Mugabe ran uncontested. Consequently, the run - off elections were condemned by the international community as ‘null and void’ and as to having failed the litmus test of (free and fair) criterion. From this background, the study seek to analyse how the Government of National Unity, created in 2008, managed to curb the cycle of electoral violence of June 2008 and to facilitate a transition towards elections considered to be relatively peaceful and also ‘free’ (in the eyes of regional and continental election monitoring bodies). Not-withstanding the fact that the concept of ‘fairness’ has remained deeply con-tested. The paper further argues that various institutions played a critical, yet significant role in peacebuilding and reconciliation during the entire period of Government of National Unity. The paper rounds of by mapping and analyzing how institutions such as ONHRI, JOMIC and COPAC helped in peacebuilding and in the holding of peaceful elections. Using Lijphart’s model of consociational democracy, the study submits that the praxis of peacebuilding, reconciliation has remained a subject of controversy in the Zimbabwean polity. Largely, this is as a result of a rich history of recurrent state sanctioned violence which has remained a menace to the Zimbabwean citizenry especially during election periods. The paper concludes that, peaceful elections and peacebuilding was achieved due to a combination of factors.