Robert Mugabe

===Land seizures and growing condemnation: 2000–2008===
{{Main|Land reform in Zimbabwe}}
[[File:Morgan Tsvangirai Oslo 2009 B.jpg|thumb|217x217px|[[Morgan Tsvangirai]] led the MDC to growing success in opposing Mugabe's regime in the 2000 parliamentary election.]]
The [[2000 Zimbabwean parliamentary election|June 2000 parliamentary elections]] were Zimbabwe's most important since 1980.{{sfn|Sithole|2001|p=160}} Sixteen parties took part, and the [[Movement for Democratic Change (prior to 2005)|Movement for Democratic Change]] (MDC)—led by trade unionist [[Morgan Tsvangirai]]—was particularly successful.{{sfn|Sithole|2001|p=160}} During the election campaign, MDC activists were regularly harassed and in some cases killed.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|pp=178–179}} The [[Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum]] documented 27 murders, 27 rapes, 2466 assaults, and 617 abductions, with 10,000 people displaced by violence; the majority, but not all, of these actions were carried out by ZANU–PF supporters.{{sfn|Blair|2002|p=158}} Observers from the [[European Union]] (EU) ruled that the election was neither free nor fair.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1pp=165–166|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=86}} The vote produced 48% and 62 parliamentary seats for ZANU-PF and 47% and 57 parliamentary seats for the MDC.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=164|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=188|3a1=Norman|3y=2008|3p=86}} For the first time, ZANU–PF were denied the two-thirds parliamentary majority required to push through constitutional change.{{sfn|Sithole|2001|p=160}} ZANU–PF had relied heavily on their support base in rural Shona-speaking areas, and retained only one urban constituency.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=188}}

In February 2000, land invasions began as armed gangs attacked and occupied white-owned farms.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=167}} The government referred to the attackers as "war veterans" but the majority were unemployed youth too young to have fought in the Rhodesian War.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=167}} Mugabe claimed that the attacks were a spontaneous uprising against white land owners, although the government had paid Z$20&nbsp;million to [[Chenjerai Hunzvi]]'s [[Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association|War Veterans Association]] to lead the land invasion campaign and ZANU–PF officials, police, and military figures were all involved in facilitating it.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=73|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=169}} Some of Mugabe's colleagues described the invasions as retribution for the white community's alleged involvement in securing the success of the 'no' vote in the recent referendum.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=169}} Mugabe justified the seizures by the fact that this land had been seized by white settlers from the indigenous African population in the 1890s.{{sfn|Blair|2002|p=180}} He portrayed the invasions as a struggle against colonialism and alleged that the UK was trying to overthrow his government.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=171}} In May 2000, he issued a decree under the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act which empowered the government to seize farms without providing compensation, insisting that it was the British government that should make these payments.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=184}}

In March 2000, Zimbabwe's [[High Court of Zimbabwe|High Court]] ruled that the land invasions were illegal; they nevertheless continued,{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=76|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=170}} and Mugabe began vilifying Zimbabwe's judiciary.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=200|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2pp=17–8}} After the [[Supreme Court of Zimbabwe|Supreme Court]] also backed this decision, the government called on its judges to resign, successfully pressuring Chief Justice [[Anthony Gubbay]] to do so.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1pp=198–199, 214–219|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2pp=204–205|3a1=Norman|3y=2008|3p=105}} ZANU–PF member [[Godfrey Chidyausiku]] was appointed to replace him, while the number of Supreme Court judges was expanded from five to eight; the three additional seats went to pro-Mugabe figures. The first act of the new Supreme Court was to reverse the previous declaration that the land seizures were illegal.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1pp=218, 238|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=207}} In November 2001, Mugabe issued a presidential decree permitting the expropriation of virtually all white-owned farms in Zimbabwe without compensation.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=223}} The farm seizures were often violent; by 2006 a reported sixty white farmers had been killed, with many of their employees experiencing intimidation and torture.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=899}} A large number of the seized farms remained empty, while many of those redistributed to black peasant-farmers were unable to engage in production for the market because of their lack of access to fertiliser.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=900}}

{{Quote box|width=25em|align=left|quote=The courts can do whatever they want, but no judicial decision will stand in our way&nbsp;... My own position is that we should not even be defending our position in the courts. This country is our country and this land is our land&nbsp;... They think because they are white they have a divine right to our resources. Not here. The white man is not indigenous to Africa. Africa is for Africans, Zimbabwe is for Zimbabweans.|salign=right |source=— Mugabe on the land seizures{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=203}} }}

The farm invasions severely impacted agricultural development.{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=236|2a1=Howard-Hassmann|2y=2010|2p=899}} Zimbabwe had produced over two million tons of maize in 2000; by 2008 this had declined to approximately 450,000.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=899}} By October 2003, [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that half of the country's population were [[food insecure]], lacking enough food to meet basic needs.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=901}} By 2009, 75% of Zimbabwe's population were relying on food aid, the highest proportion of any country at that time.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=901}} Zimbabwe faced continuing economic decline. In 2000, the country's GDP was US$7.4&nbsp;billion; by 2005 this had declined to US$3.4&nbsp;billion.{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=122}} [[Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe|Hyperinflation]] resulted in economic crisis.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=900}} By 2007, Zimbabwe had the highest inflation rate in the world, at 7600%.{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=122}} By 2008, inflation exceeded 100,000% and a loaf of bread cost a third of the average daily wage.{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=135}} Increasing numbers of Zimbabweans relied on remittances from relatives abroad.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=901}}

Other sectors of society were negatively affected too. By 2005, an estimated 80% of Zimbabwe's population were unemployed,{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=903}} and by 2008 only 20% of children were in schooling.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=903}} The breakdown of water supplies and sewage systems resulted in a [[cholera]] outbreak in late 2008, with over 98,000 cholera cases in Zimbabwe between August 2008 and mid-July 2009.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=904}} The ruined economy also impacted the [[HIV/AIDS]] epidemic in the country; by 2008 the HIV/AIDS rate for individuals aged between 15 and 49 was 15.3%.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=907}} In 2007, the [[World Health Organization]] declared the average life expectancy in Zimbabwe to be 34 for women and 36 for men, down from 63 and 54 respectively in 1997.{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=122}} The country's lucrative tourist industry was decimated,{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=121}} and there was a rise in [[poaching]], including of [[endangered species]].{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=121}} Mugabe directly exacerbated this problem when he ordered the killing of 100 elephants to provide meat for an April 2007 feast.{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=121}}

In October 2000, the MDC's MPs attempted to [[impeachment|impeach]] Mugabe, but were thwarted by the [[List of Speakers of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe|Speaker of the House]], Mugabe loyalist [[Emmerson Mnangagwa]].{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=196|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=86}} ZANU–PF increasingly equated itself with Zimbabwean patriotism,{{sfnm|1a1=Ndlovu-Gatsheni|1y=2009|1p=1140|2a1=Onslow|2a2=Redding|2y=2009|2p=68}} with MDC supporters being portrayed as traitors and enemies of Zimbabwe.{{sfn|Ndlovu-Gatsheni|2009|p=1140}} The party presented itself as being on the progressive side of history, with the MDC representing a counter-revolutionary force that seeks to undermine the achievements of the ZANU–PF revolution and of decolonisation itself.{{sfn|Onslow|Redding|2009|p=69}} Mugabe claimed that the build-up to the 2002 presidential election represented "the third Chimurenga" and that it would set Zimbabwe free from its colonial heritage.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=191}} In the build-up to the election, the government changed the electoral rules and regulations to improve Mugabe's chances of victory.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=226}} New security legislation was introduced making it illegal to criticise the president.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=226}} The defence force commander, [[Vitalis Zvinavashe|General Vitalis Zvinavashe]], stated that the military would not recognise any election result other than a Mugabe victory.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=227}} The EU withdrew its observers from the country, stating that the vote was neither free nor fair.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=227}} The election resulted in Mugabe securing 56% of the vote to Tsvangirai's 42%.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|pp=228–229}} In the aftermath of the election Mugabe declared that the state-owned Grain Marketing Board had the sole right to import and distribute grain, with the state distributors giving food to ZANU–PF supporters while withholding it from those suspected of backing the MDC.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=231|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2pp=88–89}} In 2005, Mugabe instituted [[Operation Murambatsvina]] ("Operation Drive Out the Rubbish"), a project of forced slum clearance; a UN report estimated that 700,000 were left homeless. Since the inhabitants of the shantytowns overwhelmingly voted MDC, many alleged that the bulldozing was politically motivated.<ref name="telegraphtatters">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/06/03/wzim03.xml|title=Mugabe's raids leave townships in tatters|date=6 March 2005|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|access-date=22 May 2010|first=Charles|last=Moore|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408002545/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F06%2F03%2Fwzim03.xml|archive-date=8 April 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Mugabecloseup2008.jpg|thumb|Mugabe in 2008]]
Mugabe's actions brought strong criticism. The [[Zimbabwe Council of Churches]] accused him of plunging the country into "a de facto state of warfare" to stay in power.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|pp=221–222}} Several Southern African states remonstrated with him at a summit in Harare in September 2001.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=222}} In 2002, the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] expelled Zimbabwe from among its ranks; Mugabe blamed this on anti-black racism,{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=912}} a view echoed by South Africa's President [[Thabo Mbeki]].{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=911}} Mbeki favoured a policy of "quiet diplomacy" in dealing with Mugabe,{{sfn|Onslow|Redding|2009|p=70}} and prevented the [[African Union]] (AU) from introducing sanctions against him.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=910}} The [[Africa-Europe Summit]], scheduled to take place in [[Lisbon]] in April 2003, was deferred repeatedly because African leaders refused to attend while Mugabe was banned; it eventually took place in 2007 with Mugabe in attendance.{{sfnm|1a1=Norman|1y=2008|1p=131|2a1=Tendi|2y=2011|2p=316}} In 2004, the EU imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=912}} It extended these sanctions in 2008,{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=912}} with the US government introducing further sanctions this same year.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=913}} The US and UK introduced a resolution at the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] calling for an arms embargo of Zimbabwe alongside an asset freeze and travel ban of Mugabe and other government figures; it was vetoed by Russia and China.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=913}} In 2009, the SADC demanded that Western states lift their targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his government.{{sfn|Howard-Hassmann|2010|p=911}} ZANU–PF presented the sanctions as a form of Western [[neo-colonialism]] and blamed the West for Zimbabwe's economic problems.{{sfn|Tendi|2011|pp=316–317}} According to Carren Pindiriri of the University of Zimbabwe, sanctions did not negatively affect employment and poverty in the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=Zimbabwe sanctions: Who is being targeted?|website=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50169598.amp|date=25 October 2019|access-date=12 September 2021}}</ref>

British prime minister Tony Blair allegedly planned [[regime change]] in Zimbabwe in the early 2000s as pressure intensified for Mugabe to step down.<ref name="guardian2013-zimbabwe">{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=David|title=Tony Blair plotted military intervention in Zimbabwe, claims Thabo Mbeki|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/27/tony-blair-military-intervention-zimbabwe-claim|work=The Guardian|date=27 November 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044629/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/27/tony-blair-military-intervention-zimbabwe-claim|archive-date=1 December 2017}}</ref> British General [[Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank|Charles Guthrie]], the [[Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Defence Staff]], revealed in 2007 that he and Blair had discussed the invasion of Zimbabwe.<ref name="independent2007-guthrie">{{cite news|title=Lord Guthrie: 'Tony's General' turns defence into an attack|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lord-guthrie-tonys-general-turns-defence-into-an-attack-399865.html|work=The Independent|date=11 November 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107122534/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lord-guthrie-tonys-general-turns-defence-into-an-attack-399865.html|archive-date=7 November 2012}}</ref> However, Guthrie advised against military action: "Hold hard, you'll make it worse."<ref name="independent2007-guthrie"/> In 2013, South African President Thabo Mbeki said that Blair had also pressured South Africa to join in a "regime change scheme, even to the point of using military force" in Zimbabwe.<ref name="guardian2013-zimbabwe"/> Mbeki refused because he felt that "Mugabe is part of the solution to this problem."<ref name="guardian2013-zimbabwe"/> However, a spokesman for Blair said that "he never asked anyone to plan or take part in any such military intervention."<ref name="guardian2013-zimbabwe"/>