Zimbabwe's opposition leader hints at anti-Mugabe protests Zimbabwe's opposition leader hints at anti-Mugabe protests By MacDonald Dzirutwe Pin it Share Zimbabwe opposition party Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai addresses a news conference in Harare, September 18, 2013. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo More By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday said his party could roll out protests against President Robert Mugabe's government over its inability to improve a flagging economy. Tsvangirai has led the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) since 1999 and in April he sacked his secretary general who was calling for him to step down after losing a third election to Mugabe in 2013, which some Western observers said was rigged. Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, said the country had an unsustainably high unemployment rate, estimated above 80 percent, which forced many people into informal employment.

After posting strong growth during four years of Mugabe and Tsvangirai's unity government between 2009-2013, the economy is suffering a dollar crunch due to lack of foreign investment, forcing many firms to shut down or keep workers without pay. "We are going to mobilise. The form and content is left to the MDC to plan and execute," Tsvangirai told journalists. A senior MDC official told Reuters mass protests were "very much an option". Previous anti-Mugabe protests, the last one in 2007, have been met by a heavy police and military resistance, but Tsvangirai said the veteran leader would be making a mistake by setting security forces against the public. "Let him be warned that if we cannot live as free men and women in our country of birth, we will rather die as free people," said Tsvangirai. But ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said Zimbabwe's security forces would deal with any protests. "We have our security forces which are fully equipped to deal with that, so we are not worried about anything," Gumbo told Reuters.

Tsvangirai warned leaders of the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC), in a letter seen by Reuters on Friday, that they should "take seriously our position on the developments in this country, which developments are slowly gravitating towards an inevitable implosion." "We in the MDC are drawing a line in the sand and we hereby inform our colleagues in SADC, well in advance, that the people of Zimbabwe shall be writing their own script for an endgame to the struggle for freedom and democracy," he said. Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, began a year-long run as SADC chairman last week. Tsvangirai, who ran in the last election under a cloud of sex scandals, said his party would not participate in future elections until there were changes to the rules as well as a credible voter register. The next elections are in 2018. Fear has largely undermined previous efforts by the opposition to confront Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and it is unclear if the MDC can convince the public to mobilise, political analysts say.

Reblog Zimbabwe profile - Timeline - BBC News Zimbabwe profile - Timeline Close share panel A chronology of key events: 1200-1600s - Rise and decline of the Monomotapa domain, thought to have been associated with Great Zimbabwe and to have been involved in gold mining and international trade. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Zimbabwe was colonised by Cecil John Rhodes (centre) in the late 1800s. The country was named Southern Rhodesia after him. 1830s - Ndebele people fleeing Zulu violence and Boer migration in present-day South Africa move north and settle in what becomes known as Matabeleland. 1830-1890s - European hunters, traders and missionaries explore the region from the south. They include Cecil John Rhodes. 1889 - Rhodes' British South Africa Company (BSA) gains a British mandate to colonise what becomes Southern Rhodesia. Whites settle 1890 - Pioneer column of white settlers arrives from south at site of future capital Harare. 1893 - Ndebele uprising against BSA rule is crushed.

Ian Smith Image copyright Getty Images 1922 - BSA administration ends, the white minority opts for self-government. 1930 - Land Apportionment Act restricts black access to land, forcing many into wage labour. 1930-1960s - Black opposition to colonial rule grows. Emergence in the 1960s of nationalist groups - the Zimbabwe African People's Union (Zapu) and the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu). 1953 - Britain creates the Central African Federation, made up of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi). 1963 - Federation breaks up when Zambia and Malawi gain independence. Smith declares UDI 1964 - Ian Smith of the Rhodesian Front (RF) becomes prime minister, tries to persuade Britain to grant independence. Image copyright AP Image caption Rhodesia's military was heavily involved in resisting the independence movement 1965 - Smith unilaterally declares independence under white minority rule, sparking international outrage and economic sanctions.

1972 - Guerrilla war against white rule intensifies, with rivals Zanu and Zapu operating out of Zambia and Mozambique. 1978 - Smith yields to pressure for negotiated settlement. Elections for transitional legislature boycotted by Patriotic Front made up of Zanu and Zapu. New government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa, fails to gain international recognition. Civil war continues. 1979 - British-brokered all-party talks at Lancaster House in London lead to a peace agreement and new constitution, which guarantees minority rights. Independence Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The signing of the Lancaster House agreement led to independence. Future leader Robert Mugabe is pictured on the right 1980 - Veteran pro-independence leader Robert Mugabe and his Zanu party win British-supervised independence elections. Mugabe is named prime minister and includes Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo in his cabinet. Independence on 18 April is internationally recognised. 1982 - Mugabe sacks Nkomo, accusing him of preparing to overthrow the government.

North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade deployed to crush rebellion by pro-Nkomo ex-guerrillas in Midlands and Matabeleland provinces. Government forces are accused of killing thousands of civilians over next few years. 1987 - Mugabe, Nkomo merge their parties to form Zanu-PF, ending the violence in southern areas. 1987 - Mugabe changes constitution, becomes executive president. 1991 - The Commonwealth adopts the Harare Declaration at its summit in Zimbabwe, reaffirming its aims of fostering international peace and security, democracy, freedom of the individual and equal rights for all. Independence fighter: Joshua Nkomo Was friend, then rival of President Mugabe 1998 - Economic crisis accompanied by riots and strikes. 1999 - Economic crisis persists, Zimbabwe's military involvement in DR Congo's civil war becomes increasingly unpopular. Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formed. Farm seizures 2000 February - President Mugabe suffers defeat in referendum on draft constitution. Squatters seize hundreds of white-owned farms in an ongoing and violent campaign to reclaim what they say was stolen by settlers.

2000 June - Parliamentary elections: Zanu-PF narrowly fights off a challenge from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai, but loses its power to change the constitution. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Squatters invaded hundreds of white-owned farms in a government-supported campaign 2001 May - Defence Minister Moven Mahachi killed in a car crash - the second minister to die in that way in a month. 2001 July - Finance Minister Simba Makoni publicly acknowledges economic crisis, saying foreign reserves have run out and warning of serious food shortages. Most western donors, including the World Bank and the IMF, have cut aid because of President Mugabe's land seizure programme. 2002 February - Parliament passes a law limiting media freedom. The European Union imposes sanctions on Zimbabwe and pulls out its election observers after the EU team leader is expelled. 2002 March - Mugabe re-elected in presidential elections condemned as seriously flawed by the opposition and foreign observers. Commonwealth suspends Zimbabwe from its councils for a year after concluding that elections were marred by high levels of violence. Food shortages 2002 April - State of disaster declared as worsening food shortages threaten famine.

2002 June - 45-day countdown for some 2,900 white farmers to leave their land begins, under terms of a land-acquisition law passed in May. Protests 2003 March - Widely-observed general strike is followed by arrests and beatings. 2003 June - Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai is arrested twice during a week of opposition protests. He is charged with treason, adding to an existing treason charge from 2002 over an alleged plot to kill President Mugabe. Slum clearances 2003 November - Canaan Banana, Zimbabwe's first black president, dies aged 67. 2003 December - Zimbabwe pulls out of Commonwealth after organisation decides to extend suspension of country indefinitely. 2004 March - A group of mercenaries allegedly on the way to Equatorial Guinea to stage a coup is intercepted after landing at Harare airport. Their leader, British national Simon Mann, is sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to buy guns. 2004 October - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is acquitted of treason charges relating to an alleged plot to kill President Mugabe.

He faces a separate treason charge. 2005 January - The US labels Zimbabwe as one of the world's six "outposts of tyranny". Zimbabwe rejects the statement. 2005 March - Ruling Zanu-PF party wins two-thirds of the votes in parliamentary polls. Main opposition party says election was rigged against it. Urban "clean-up" 2005 May-July - Tens of thousands of shanty dwellings and illegal street stalls are destroyed as part of a "clean-up" programme. The UN estimates that the drive has left about 700,000 people homeless. 2005 August - Prosecutors drop remaining treason charges against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. 2005 November - Ruling Zanu-PF party wins an overwhelming majority of seats in a newly-created upper house of parliament, the Senate. The opposition MDC splits over its leader's decision to boycott the poll. 2005 December - UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland says Zimbabwe is in "meltdown". Galloping inflation 2006 May - Year-on-year inflation exceeds 1,000%.

New banknotes, with three noughts deleted from their values, are introduced in August. Hyperinflation Zimbabwe rolls out Z$100tr note 2006 September - Riot police disrupt a planned demonstration against the government's handling of the economic crisis. Union leaders are taken into custody and later hospitalised, allegedly after being tortured. 2006 December - Ruling ZANU-PF party approves a plan to move presidential polls from 2008 to 2010, effectively extending Mr Mugabe's rule by two years. 2007 February - Rallies, demonstrations banned for three months. The ban is extended in May. 2007 March - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is hospitalised after his arrest at a rally. One man is shot dead as riot police move to disperse the gathering. 2007 May - Warnings of power cuts for up to 20 hours a day while electricity is diverted towards agriculture. 2007 June - Ruling ZANU-PF and opposition MDC hold preliminary talks in South Africa. Elections crisis 2008 March - Presidential and parliamentary elections. Opposition MDC claims victory.

2008 May - Electoral body says Tsvangirai won most votes in presidential poll, but not enough to avoid a run-off against Mugabe. 2008 June - Run-off goes ahead. Mugabe declared winner. Tsvangirai pulled out days before poll, complaining of intimidation. Russia, China veto a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution to impose sanctions. Power-sharing deal 2008 July - EU, US widen sanctions against Zimbabwe's leaders. Power-sharing deal Morgan Tsvangirai made prime minister 2008 Sept - Mugabe, Tsvangirai sign power-sharing agreement. Implementation stalls over who gets top ministerial jobs. 2008 December - Zimbabwe declares national emergency over a cholera epidemic and the collapse of its health care system. 2009 January - Government allows use of foreign currencies to try stem hyperinflation. 2009 February - Tsvangirai is sworn in as prime minister, after protracted talks over formation of government. 2009 March - Tsvangirai's wife is killed in a car crash. He is injured. Retail prices fall for the first time after years of hyperinflation.

2009 June - Constitutional review begins. Tsvangirai tours Europe and US to drum up donor support. 2009 September - One year after power-sharing deal, MDC remains frustrated and alleges persecution and violence against members. Arrival of EU and US delegations seen as signs of thaw in foreign relations. Both maintain stance on targeted sanctions. Blood diamonds? Image copyright AP Discovery of diamonds in 2006 prompted a scramble by thousands of illegal miners; many reportedly died in a government bid to evict them Questions remain over who benefits from new-found wealth IMF provides $400 million support as part of G20 agreement to help member states. 2009 October - Mugabe calls for new start to relations with West. 2010 January - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai urges the easing of targeted sanctions, saying the unity government's progress should be rewarded. Zimbabwe's High Court rejects a regional court ruling against President Mugabe's land-reform programme. 2010 March - New "indigenisation" law forces foreign-owned businesses to sell majority stake to locals. 2010 August - Zimbabwe resumes official diamond sales, amid controversy over reported rights abuses at the Marange diamond fields.

2010 September - Premier Tsvangirai alleges ruling party instigating violence at public consultations on new constitution. 2010 December - Ruling Zanu-PF party nominates President Mugabe as candidate for next presidential race. 30 years of independence Audio slideshow: Zimbabwe at 30 Mugabe's wife Grace takes legal action over claims released by WikiLeaks that she profited from illegal diamond trading. 2011 February - European Union eases sanctions on Zimbabwe by removing the names of 35 of President Mugabe's supporters from a list of people whose assets had been frozen. 2011 March - Prime Minister Tsvangirai says unity government rendered impotent by ZANU-PF violence and disregard for power-sharing deal. 2011 August - General Solomon Mujuru, one of the country's most senior politicians, dies in a mysterious house fire. 2011 November - The Kimberly Process, which regulates the global diamond industry, lifts a ban on the export of diamonds from two of Zimbabwe's Marange fields. 2011 December - President Mugabe says he will run in the next elections. He condemns the current power-sharing government as a monster.

2012 February - European Union lifts sanctions on some prominent Zimbabweans, while retaining the travel restrictions and the freeze on the assets of President Mugabe. Constitutional Select Committee completes draft of new constitution, but ZANU-PF and MDC continue to quarrel about the details. 2012 April - Political violence reportedly on the rise, with MDC complaining that its rallies have repeatedly been shut down. Run-up to elections 2012 October - Rights activists say repressive structures instrumental in 2008 electoral violence are being reactivated. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Zimbabweans queue to vote in the 2013 elections, which the opposition dismissed as fraudulent Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai threatens to pull out of unity government, citing violence against his party's members. 2013 January - Talks involving President Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai reach a deal over a new draft constitution. 2013 March - New constitution approved by an overwhelming majority in a referendum. Future presidents will be limited to two five-year terms. Mugabe victory 2013 July - Presidential and parliamentary elections.

Mr Mugabe gains a seventh term in office and his Zanu-PF party three-quarters of the seats in parliament. The opposition MDC dismisses the polls as a fraud. 2013 August - The United States responds to calls from southern African leaders for the West to lift all sanctions on Zimbabwe by saying that it will not do this unless there are further political reforms in the country. 2013 September - The MDC boycotts the opening of parliament presided over by President Mugabe in protest at what it says was a rigged election. 2014 February - Zimbabwe marks President Mugabe's 90th birthday after he returns from medical treatment in Singapore. 2014 August - Grace Mugabe, the president's wife and a political novice, is unexpectedly nominated as the next leader of the governing Zanu-PF's Women's League, fuelling speculation that she may succeed her husband one day. 2014 December - President Mugabe sacks Vice-President Joyce Mujuru and seven other ministers after accusing them of being involved in a plot to kill him. Ms Mujuru denies the allegation, but is later expelled from the ZANU-PF party.

2015 January - President Mugabe is chosen as chairman of the African Union for the year. 2015 June - Central Bank formally phases out the Zimbabwe dollar, formalising the multi-currency system introduced to counter hyper-inflation. 2016 August - Police disperse demonstrators near parliament with placards reading 'President Mugabe must go'. Days earlier the war veterans' association withdrew support for Mr Mugabe. Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe will start a 'war against the people', warns Morgan Tsvangirai - Telegraph Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe will start a 'war against the people', warns Morgan Tsvangirai Mr Mugabe and top aides discussed future political moves at a meeting in Harare on Friday By Tom Chivers and agencies 12:01AM BST 05 Apr 2008 The leader of Zimbabwe's main opposition party has warned that the country's president Robert Mugabe is preparing for a "war against the people". Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change party, told reporters the MDC was reluctant to take part in a second round of presidential elections because of the fear of violence. However, he stopped short of threatening a boycott.

Related Articles Morgan Tsvangirai's men 'just as violent' 04 Apr 2008 "Zanu-PF is preparing a war against the people," Tsvangirai said. "In the runoff, violence will be the weapon. It is therefore unfair and unreasonable for President Mugabe to call a runoff." Earlier the MDC appealed for the UN to step in to prevent violence ahead of a possible presidential run-off campaign. However, South African president Thabo Mbeki urged the international community to wait for the results of any election re-run. Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, warned that there were signs incumbent president Robert Mugabe, 84, was ready to begin a crackdown amid fears that he will use force in his efforts to retain power. "They are trying to intimidate people, they are trying to set up the context for unleashing violence", Chamisa told reporters. "The vampire instincts of this regime are definitely going to come out." Armed police prevented the party's lawyers entering the country's High Court to submit a legal challenge to release the full results of last week's election.

Feared veterans of the guerrilla war used in the past to beat up opponents have held an intimidating march, while opposition party offices were raided and armed police in full riot gear arrested foreign journalists in a show of force. Urging caution, the South African president disagreed, saying: "I think it is time to wait. Let's see the outcome of the election results. "If there is a re-run of the presidential election let us see what comes out of that," he went on. Zanu-PF, the ruling party, have said that they will endorse Mr Mugabe as their candidate in a run-off despite his chastening electoral losses. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown reiterated his calls for the results of the presidential election to be announced. He said that if there was a run-off between Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai, international observers should be in place to ensure it was carried out fairly. "We are monitoring the situation closely. I think the important thing is that the results have got to be published. They cannot be any longer delayed. They have got to be seen to fair," he said. Foreign Secretary David Miliband agreed that foreign observers must be allowed into the country to scrutinize any possible run-off.

Mr Mbeki will meet with Mr Brown on the sidelines of the international summit to discuss the issue. The Zimbabean opposition's legal bid to force release of presidential election results was postponed to Sunday after armed police prevented its lawyers entering the High Court on Saturday. "The case has been postponed until 12 noon tomorrow," Movement for Democratic Change lawyer Andrew Makoni said. He said the electoral commission had asked for more time to file opposing papers. Earlier armed police had prevented Makoni and another opposition lawyer from entering the High Court building. Zimbabwe's opposition leader brought to court | Toronto Star World Zimbabwe's opposition leader brought to court Police brought the No. 2 leader of Zimbabwe&#39;s opposition political party to court Saturday &ndash; but only after a judge ordered them to do so a second time. Sat., June 14, 2008 HARARE, Zimbabwe–Police brought the No. 2 leader of Zimbabwe's opposition political party to court Saturday – but only after a judge ordered them to do so a second time. Reporters watched as Tendai Biti, handcuffed and appearing tense, was brought into Justice Ben Hlatshwayo's court. He said "fine" when reporters asked how he was.

Earlier, according to opposition lawyer Lewis Uriri, police had told the judge they were not sure the order he issued a day earlier was genuine. Hlatshwayo then gave police an hour to produce Biti. Biti, secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change, was arrested upon returning to Zimbabwe from neighboring South Africa Thursday. Police had refused to say where he was being held. Police have said he faces a treason charge, which can carry the death penalty. Movement for Democratic Change president Morgan Tsvangirai faces longtime leader Robert Mugabe in a presidential runoff in less than two weeks. Biti's arrest adds to concerns the June 27 runoff will not be free and fair after a campaign that has seen brutal attacks on opposition supporters, arrests of key opposition figures and repeated interruptions of Tsvangirai's attempts to campaign. On Saturday, the opposition said in a statement that Tsvangirai was again detained by police as he campaigned in rural Zimbabwe. He and 11 others on his campaign team were stopped at a road block and taken to a police station.

Police have typically stopped Tsvangirai at roadblocks as he attempted to reach rallies or small meetings with voters, then taken him to stations where he has been held for hours before being released. "It is clearly impossible to talk about free and fair elections in Zimbabwe and to suggest otherwise is to be clearly blind to the grave harassment, intimidation and violence that the people of Zimbabwe have had to endure over the past few years," the party statement said, calling on Zimbabwe's neighbors to intervene. Tsvangirai came in first in a field of four in the first round of presidential voting March 29. But, according to the official tally, he did not win the 50 per cent plus one vote required to avoid a runoff. In 2004, Tsvangirai was acquitted after a treason trial that lasted more than a year. Police said the treason charge Biti faces stems from a transition document they claim was a blueprint for regime change. He is also accused of spreading false information for releasing the opposition's own tally from the first round of elections – under Zimbabwean law, only election officials can release results.

Tsvangirai said the police claims against Biti are ``frivolous." Besides being accused of orchestrating violence, Mugabe's government has in recent weeks been accused of using food as a political weapon. The government ordered independent aid agencies last week to stop work. Mugabe has accused foreign aid agencies of working with the opposition to topple him, but the effect of the crackdown has been to make millions of hungry Zimbabweans even more dependent on his government, just as they are deciding whether to keep him in power. U.S. officials said that last week security forces confiscated a large U.S. food donation intended for children and gave it to Mugabe supporters in a country where economic collapse has left many people struggling to feed themselves. Mugabe, Zimbabwe's head of government since 1980, was lauded early in his rule for campaigning for racial reconciliation and building the economy. But in recent years, he has been accused of ruining the economy and holding onto power through fraud and intimidation.

Zimbabwe's Missing Activist Fuels Opposition Against Mugabe Zimbabwe's Missing Activist Fuels Opposition Against Mugabe On 6/27/16 at 7:27 AM Close World Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe Itai Dzamara Dressed in a red t-shirt and black shorts—the colors of his favorite football team, Manchester United—Zimbabwean journalist Itai Dzamara left his home in the working-class Glenville suburb of the capital Harare on March 9, 2015, and headed to his local barbershop. “He didn’t say anything [in particular], he just said: ‘I’m going to have my haircut, I’ll be back,’” Dzamara’s wife, Sheffra, tells Newsweek. But Dzamara did not return. And his family has not seen him since. The outspoken critic of Robert Mugabe’s government and father of two young children was snatched from the barbershop and forcibly disappeared in the southern African country, where speaking up against the government can have dire consequences.

Try Newsweek for only $1.25 per week Protesters march to mark the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of Zimbabwean activist Itai Dzamara in Harare, March 9. Dzamara was abducted in March 2015 and his family believes the state may have played a role in him going missing. JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images After more than a year of silence from the government, a single, grainy photo has brought the case back into the national consciousness. Dzamara’s brother, Patson Dzamara, claims the photo, which he says he got from someone within Zimbabwe’s state security apparatus, shows the activist in detention. In it, a masked figure sits with their hands bound behind their back against a black backdrop in an undisclosed location. Patson says he is “100 percent” sure that the image is legitimate, but Newsweek was not able to independently confirm its authenticity. The brother of the abducted activist is using the photo to put pressure on the government, saying that he knows for sure Dzamara is being held in Zimbabwe and that he hopes to reveal more information on his brother’s precise whereabouts soon.

The brother of Itai Dzamara claims this photo shows the journalist, who was abducted in March 2015, in detention at an undisclosed location in Zimbabwe. Patson Dzamara The photo has reportedly been discounted by legal experts, although their claims were published in the state-owned Chronicle newspaper , which tends to be favorable to the government. Sheffra, however, is convinced it’s real. The image gives her a slim glimmer of light after she has spent more than a year completely in the dark. “That picture gave me hope that maybe my husband is still alive and maybe he’ll be released soon,” she tells Newsweek. A journalist and opposition campaigner, Dzamara, 36, wanted to mobilize young Zimbabweans against what he saw as the deplorable state of governance in the country, which Mugabe has ruled imperiously since independence in 1980 . He held regular sit-in protests in Harare’s Africa Unity Square and the movement he started has garnered more than 10,000 likes on its Facebook page.

Dzamara received the backing of Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader and ex-prime minister who has challenged Mugabe at several elections. In 2014, he personally delivered a petition to the president’s office demanding that Mugabe resign, an action that made him a target for several beatings by security forces. The state of affairs in Zimbabwe lend themselves to protesters in need of a cause. The country’s unemployment rate has been estimated as high as 80 or 90 percent, though the government’s statistics agency put it at just 10.7 percent in 2011. Zimbabwe’s economy is growing at a sluggish rate of less than 2 percent, while a U.S. dollar shortage has raised fears that the government could be planning to reintroduce the Zimbabwean dollar : the domestic currency became practically worthless following massive hyperinflation in 2008-09 which saw the price of bread reach 10 million Zimbabwean dollars. The country is also experiencing its worst drought in decades , leaving millions of people in need of food and forcing Mugabe to declare a state of disaster in some parts of the country.

On the day of his abduction, Dzamara was approached by four unidentified men who asked him to confirm his identity, according to Patson. When he did, the men accused him of livestock theft and handcuffed him before bundling him into an unmarked car. His abduction left Sheffra to care for the couple’s two young children, an 8-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl. Dzamara had previously been detained and beaten by state security agents for his vocal opposition, so while his abduction was unexpected, it was not a total surprise, according to Patson. “He was prepared for this, 100 percent,” says the activist’s brother. “Mugabe has a track record of victimizing individuals who oppose him in such a staunch and stubborn manner.” Dzamara’s activism has led to widespread accusations that his abduction was the work of Mugabe’s government.

The Zimbabwe National Army has flatly denied that it played a role in Dzamara’s disappearance, calling Patson’s allegations “totally false and a figment of his own imaginations.” Newsweek contacted the Police General Headquarters in Harare on multiple occasions for a comment on progress made in finding Dzamara, but received no reply. Newsweek also contacted Zimbabwe’s ex-information minister and current higher education minister Jonathan Moyo—who suggested to the BBC in May 2015 that Dzamara may have disappeared across Zimbabwe’s “porous borders” but recently said he was probably abducted —but received no response. During Mugabe’s 36-year reign, the ruling Zanu-PF party has faced accusations of unnecessary force against political opposition . In the election year of 2008, at least 193 Zimbabwean citizens had been killed and many others abducted in political violence targeting opposition supports, according to the U.S. State Department . The 92-year-old president actually lost the first-round of the election to Tsvangirai but won by a huge margin in the second round.

Tsvangirai, who has been arrested on numerous occasions during his political career, recently led thousands of supporters of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) through the streets of Harare. The demonstration was the largest opposition gathering in years in Zimbabwe—previous protests have been met with brutal force by security forces. It’s also not uncommon for political opponents to go missing. MDC activist Tonderai Ndira disappeared in May 2008, weeks before the second round of voting in the election. His mutilated body was found just over a week later, making him the 43rd opposition activist confirmed to have been killed during the fractious election campaign. Paul Chizuze , a human rights campaigner who investigated the disappearances of others in Zimbabwe, left his home in the country’s second city of Bulawayo on February 8, 2012 and has not been seen since. Jestina Mukoko is one of those rare activists who have been abducted by state agents and later released.

The director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, a domestic human rights group, Mukoko, 49, was taken from her Harare home on the morning of December 3, 2008, wearing only a dressing gown. Like Dzamara, Mukoko was taken by unidentified assailants in an unmarked car to an unknown location, where she was held for 21 days and tortured, beaten on the soles of her feet with rubber and metal truncheons and forced to kneel on sharp gravel for hours on end. Mukoko’s abduction received international attention, with former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and ex-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice among those who called for her release. But the Zimbabwean government initially denied any knowledge of her disappearance.

On Christmas Eve 2008, she says, she was dragged before a court and was accused by her abductors of recruiting armed youths to the MDC in a bid to overthrow the government, a charge she describes as “absurd.” In March 2009, three months after she was first abducted, Mukoko was granted bail and in September 2009, Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court ordered a permanent stay of criminal proceedings against her. Mukoko says the parallels between what happened to her and Dzamara’s disappearance are clear. “Initially, when I heard about Dzamara’s abduction, I thought he was probably on the same kind of road as me, the road that I had travelled. And when I heard the denials by the police and other state agents, I just thought, ‘This is kind of familiar,’” she says. But her time in captivity was far shorter than Dzamara’s and, as the months roll on with no word of Dzamara, Mukoko admits that she has begun to fear the worst. “My hope is fading,” she says.

“I still have to be proved otherwise, but all the same, I’m really worried for Dzamara and his family.” Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai addresses protesters ahead of a demonstration to mark the one-year anniversary of Itai Dzamara's abduction in Harare, March 9. Dzamara's abduction has coincided with a revival of opposition rhetoric in Zimbabwe. JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images On March 13, 2015, four days after Dzamara’s abduction, Zimbabwe’s High Court ordered the police and Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) to search for the missing activist. Zimbabwe’s security services are renowned for the prominent position they hold within the country’s political sphere and the CIO has an extensive network of informers and agents across the country, along with a formal staff complement believed to be around 3,000 . Yet despite its comprehensive reach and being required to report on Dzamara’s case on a fortnightly basis, there has been no visible progress towards finding him, says Deprose Muchena, Southern Africa director at Amnesty International.

“This is absolutely puzzling for a very sophisticated state security machinery that we’ve seen operating with efficiency when it is doing what it does best,” says Muchena. Related Stories Morgan Tsvangirai Sworn In As Prime Minister Photos and Images | Getty Images Morgan Tsvangirai Sworn In As Prime Minister February 11, 2009 License New Zimbabawean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for...New Zimbabawean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) delivers an address in Harare on February 11, 2009 after being sworn in by President Robert Mugabe at the State House. Tsvangirai vowed to rebuild Zimbabwe's shattered economy and end political violence, as he became prime minister in a unity government with long-time rival Mugabe. Tsvangirai spoke to more than 10,000 cheering supporters who filled a stadium and hung from trees and light towers, as he laid out ambitious priorities to turn around a country mired in economic and humanitarian crisis.

LessMore Morgan Tsvangirai Sworn In As Prime Minister February 11, 2009 License New Zimbabawean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for...New Zimbabawean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) delivers an address in Harare on February 11, 2009 after being sworn in by President Robert Mugabe at the State House. Tsvangirai vowed to rebuild Zimbabwe's shattered economy and end political violence, as he became prime minister in a unity government with long-time rival Mugabe. Tsvangirai spoke to more than 10,000 cheering supporters who filled a stadium and hung from trees and light towers, as he laid out ambitious priorities to turn around a country mired in economic and humanitarian crisis.

LessMore Morgan Tsvangirai Sworn In As Prime Minister February 11, 2009 License New Zimbabawean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for...New Zimbabawean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) delivers an address in Harare on February 11, 2009 after being sworn in by President Robert Mugabe at the State House. Tsvangirai vowed to rebuild Zimbabwe's shattered economy and end political violence, as he became prime minister in a unity government with long-time rival Mugabe. Tsvangirai spoke to more than 10,000 cheering supporters who filled a stadium and hung from trees and light towers, as he laid out ambitious priorities to turn around a country mired in economic and humanitarian crisis.

LessMore Morgan Tsvangirai Sworn In As Prime Minister February 11, 2009 License The wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Grace (L), and one of the wives of...The wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Grace (L), and one of the wives of King Mswati III of Swaziland attend the swearing-in ceremony of new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), at the State House in Harare on February 11, 2009. Tsvangirai's swearing in caps nearly a year of turmoil that began in March 2008, when he won a first-round presidential vote that was greeted with nationwide political violence, mostly against his supporters. LessMore

Question: Who led Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change opposition against Robert Mugabe in 2008?
Answer: Morgan Tsvangirai