In Zimbabwe an ethnic conflict between the leaders Mugabe (Shona, president of Zimbabwe) and Nkomo (Ndebele, a.k.a. Matabele) is going on. These ethnic groups have fought side by side against the white dominance in the past, but the strife that dates from before was never resolved. The Shona’s consider the Matabele intruders as they settled in South-Zimbabwe in 1840 and originate from Zululand.  

White government
In 1965 the white government led by Ian Smith proclaimed independence, ending British domination over what was then South Rhodesia. Soon, a civil war broke out as black Africans resisted the white minority government. The government was confronted by the communistic Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) led by Joshua Nkomo, and the Maoist Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) led by Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe prime minister
In 1980 British domination was completely absolved and after the elections Mugabe became prime minister, preacher Canaan Banana president and Ian Smith advisor to the government. At first, Mugabe was a moderate; however he became more and more dictatorial. He arrested his former ally against Ian Smith, Nkomo. After that he annulled all seats of the whites in the government, which removed Ian Smith. And finally he changed the constitution in 1987, which strengthened the presidency which he soon took over from Banana. President Mugabe carried out his land reforms in 2000, which took land from white farmers and gave it to black inhabitants (said to have been mostly friends of Mugabe). Because white farmers were mainly responsible for the wealth of Zimbabwe (as its main exports were agricultural products) the country was economically ruined within a few years after these reforms. It has the fastest slinking economy and the highest inflation rates, unemployment is at 94 percent. Apart from the agricultural, the tourism sector collapsed too.

Repressive regime
During the 90s the regime became ever more repressive; the press was restricted, politicians from the opposition were arrested and during the elections ZANU-PF resorted to violence and intimidation. In 2008 elections were held during which the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC,) led by Morgan Tsvangirai, got more seats than ZANU-PF. However, Mugabe claimed that MDC did not attain absolute majority, which resulted in a second round. These elections were violent ones, during which thousands of MDC supporters were hurt and dozens got killed. As a response, Tsvangirai boycotted the elections. Eventually, Tsvangirai and Mbeki, the South-African president who negotiated in the conflict, came to an agreement on how to divide powers in Zimbabwe. According to this agreement, Tsvangirai and Mugabe should form the government of national unity, but Mugabe did not give up his authoritarian regime. Apart from its political and economic problems, the country also had to deal with a cholera epidemic in 2008.   

Reaction of the international community
Many government leaders have called for the resignation of Mugabe, who declared in 2008 that he would never give up power. The West, and primary the US, insist on interference in the country. But most of Zimbabwe’s neighbouring countries do not agree. Nowadays some African governments have renounced Mugabe, though for a long time they strongly supported him. They saw him as the hero who beat the white minority government.