The Politics of Disruption: War Veterans and the Local State In Zimbabwe

This article is about war veterans' recent assault on the local state in Zimbabwe. From February 2001, veterans stormed local authorities in districts where the political opposition had strong support -primarily but not exclusively in Matabeleland and Midlands Provinces. They locked district council and other local government offices, closed some schools and demanded the dismissal of numerous officials, councillors, teachers and workers. Officials were suspended from their jobs and subjected to a procedure of 'vetting' by war veterans in which they were accused of a wide range of offences from dancing on the photograph of the President, to campaigning for the opposition party, to maladministration and corruption. This process has received little comment from President Mugabe, war veterans, or party leaders -in contrast to war veterans' interventions in other areas, such as land and labour issues -yet its consequences are potentially far-reaching.