Unrest and open criticism of the ruling party burst into full-scale food riots earlier this year, in which nine people were killed and hundreds of millions of dollars of damage was done, mainly in Harare. For the first time since independence, opposition to ZANU-PF is growing although it is politically unformed. The churches have attempted to monitor human rights and advocate for a civil society. Women's groups, growing stronger and more vocal daily, are in the forefront of demands for change. Student demonstrations are commonplace.
People now demand greater media freedom, more democratization and a larger say in decision-making.
However, Mugabe and the ruling party show few signs of sharing power and there is no constitutional limit on the number of terms a president can serve. When WCC general secretary Konrad Raiser made a visit to Zimbabwe in April, it was to bring the message of Jubilee to a small debt-ridden African nation. Pragmatically, it was also to see how preparations were shaping up for what will be, other than sporting events, the largest meeting ever held here. He found the usual pre-Assembly problems of logistics and cultural differences between northern and southern church bureaucrats. A lot of people have never heard of the WCC or its Eighth Assembly.