Effects of Factionalism in ZANU-PF: An Appraisal, 1980–2017

Abstract

Literature on the study of Zimbabwean politics tends to emphasise the role played by Robert Mugabe as chief instigator of different political trajectories in Zimbabwe. In a departure from available literature, this paper surfaces other explanations rather than to centre on the Mugabe factor. Because of democratic centralism, the factional dimension of politics within the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) is a case worthy of investigation to understand these political trajectories. With this in mind, the paper seeks to examine the nexus between different political trajectories in Zimbabwe and the emergence of factionalism in ZANU-PF.