Editing History of Zimbabwe (section)

==Independence and the 1980s==
The country gained official independence as [[Zimbabwe]] on 18 April 1980. The government held independence celebrations in Rufaro stadium in [[Harare|Salisbury]], the capital. Lord [[Christopher Soames]], the last [[Governor of Southern Rhodesia]], watched as [[Charles III of the United Kingdom|Charles, Prince of Wales]], gave a farewell salute and the Rhodesian Signal Corps played "[[God Save the Queen]]". Many foreign dignitaries also attended, including Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] of India, President [[Shehu Shagari]] of Nigeria, President [[Kenneth Kaunda]] of Zambia, President [[Seretse Khama]] of Botswana, and Prime Minister [[Malcolm Fraser]] of Australia, representing the [[Commonwealth of Nations]]. [[Bob Marley]] sang 'Zimbabwe', a song he wrote, at the government's invitation in a concert at the country's independence festivities.<ref name=g>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Lizzie|year=2005|title=Africa Overland|pages=169–170}}</ref><ref name=h>{{cite book|last=Pakenham|first=Thomas|year=1992|title=Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912|page=669}}</ref>

President Shagari pledged $15 million at the celebration to train Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe and [[expatriates]] in Nigeria. Mugabe's government used part of the money to buy newspaper companies owned by South Africans, increasing the government's control over the media. The rest went to training students in Nigerian universities, government workers in the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria in [[Badagry]], and soldiers in the Nigerian Defence Academy in [[Kaduna (city)|Kaduna]]. Later that year Mugabe commissioned a report by the BBC on [[press freedom]] in Zimbabwe. The BBC issued its report on 26 June, recommending the privatisation of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and its independence from political interests.<ref name=i>{{cite book|last=Abegunrin|first=Olayiwola|year=2003|title=Nigerian Foreign Policy Under Military Rule, 1966–1999|page=89}}</ref><ref name=j>{{cite book|last=Kalley|first=Jacqueline Audrey|year=1999|title=Southern African Political History: A Chronology of Key Political Events from Independence to Mid-1997|page=711}}</ref>

Mugabe's government changed the capital's name from Salisbury to [[Harare]] on 18 April 1982 in celebration of the second anniversary of independence.<ref name=k>{{cite book|last=Kalley|first=Jacqueline Audrey|year=1999|title=Southern African Political History: A Chronology of Key Political Events from Independence to Mid-1997|page=718}}</ref> The government renamed the main street in the capital, Jameson Avenue, in honour of [[Samora Machel]], [[President of Mozambique]].

In 1992, a World Bank study indicated that more than 500 health centres had been built since 1980. The percentage of children vaccinated increased from 25% in 1980 to 67% in 1988 and life expectancy increased from 55 to 59 years. Enrollment increased by 232 per cent one year after primary education was made free and secondary school enrolment increased by 33 per cent in two years. These social policies lead to an increase in the debt ratio. Several laws were passed in the 1980s in an attempt to reduce wage gaps. However, the gaps remained considerable. In 1988, the law gave women, at least in theory, the same rights as men. Previously, they could only take a few personal initiatives without the consent of their father or husband.<ref>Zimbabwe's Socialist development experiment 1980-1989, Peter Makaye and Constantine Munhande, 2013</ref>

The new Constitution provided for an executive{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} President as Head of State with a Prime Minister as Head of Government. Reverend [[Canaan Banana]] served as the first President. In government amended the Constitution in 1987 to provide for an Executive President and abolished the office of Prime Minister. The constitutional changes came into effect on 1 January 1988 with Robert Mugabe as president. The bicameral [[Parliament of Zimbabwe]] had a directly elected House of Assembly and an indirectly elected Senate, partly made up of tribal chiefs. The Constitution established two separate voters rolls, one for the black majority, who had 80% of the seats in Parliament, and the other for whites and other ethnic minorities, such as [[Coloured]]s, people of mixed race, and Asians, who held 20%. The government amended the Constitution in 1986, eliminating the voter rolls and replacing the white seats with seats filled by nominated members. Many white MPs joined ZANU which then reappointed them. In 1990 the government abolished the Senate and increased the House of Assembly's membership to include members nominated by the President.

Prime Minister Mugabe kept [[Peter Walls]], the head of the army, in his government and put him in charge of integrating the [[Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army]] (ZIPRA), [[Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army]] (ZANLA), and the [[Rhodesian Army]]. While Western media outlets praised Mugabe's efforts at reconciliation with the [[Whites in Zimbabwe|white minority]], tension soon developed.<ref name=b>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,921868,00.html Walls: "We will make it work"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930072147/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,921868,00.html |date=30 September 2007 }} TIME magazine and CNN</ref> On 17 March 1980, after several unsuccessful assassination attempts Mugabe asked Walls, "Why are your men trying to kill me?" Walls replied, "If they were my men you would be dead."<ref name=c>Raymond, Walter John. ''Dictionary of Politics: Selected American and Foreign Political and Legal Terms'', 1992. Page 557.</ref> [[BBC News]] interviewed Walls on 11 August 1980. He told the BBC that he had asked [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]] to annul the 1980 election prior to the official announcement of the result on the grounds that Mugabe used intimidation to win the election. Walls said Thatcher had not replied to his request. On 12 August British government officials denied that they had not responded, saying [[Antony Duff]], Deputy Governor of Salisbury, told Walls on 3 March that Thatcher would not annul the election.<ref name=d>Kalley, Jacqueline Audrey. ''Southern African Political History: A chronological of key political events from independence to mid-1997'', 1999. Page 711-712.</ref>

Minister of Information [[Nathan Shamuyarira]] said the government would not be "held ransom by racial misfits" and told "all those Europeans who do not accept the new order to pack their bags." He also said the government continued to consider taking "legal or administrative action" against Walls. Mugabe, returning from a visit with United States President [[Jimmy Carter]] in New York City, said, "One thing is quite clear—we are not going to have disloyal characters in our society." Walls returned to Zimbabwe after the interview, telling Peter Hawthorne of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, "To stay away at this time would have appeared like an admission of guilt." Mugabe drafted legislation that would exile Walls from Zimbabwe for life and Walls moved to South Africa.<ref name=e>[http://www.dispatch.co.za/2000/12/21/foreign/DBACKFIR.HTM Zanu-PF's Walls 'manhunt' backfires] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031130204757/http://www.dispatch.co.za/2000/12/21/foreign/DBACKFIR.HTM |date=30 November 2003 }} Dispatch</ref><ref name=f>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,922125,00.html A soldier faces his critics] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130204124312/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,922125,00.html |date=4 February 2013 }} TIME magazine and CNN</ref>

Ethnic divisions soon came back to the forefront of national politics. Tension between ZAPU and ZANU erupted with guerrilla activity starting again in [[Matabeleland]] in south-western Zimbabwe. Nkomo (ZAPU) left for exile in Britain and did not return until Mugabe guaranteed his safety. In 1982 government security officials discovered large caches of arms and ammunition on properties owned by ZAPU, accusing Nkomo and his followers of plotting to overthrow the government. Mugabe fired Nkomo and his closest aides from the cabinet.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}} Seven MPs, members of the Rhodesian Front, left Smith's party to sit as "independents" on 4 March 1982, signifying their dissatisfaction with his policies.<ref name=k/> As a result of what they saw as persecution of Nkomo and his party, PF-ZAPU supporters, army deserters began a campaign of dissidence against the government. Centring primarily in Matabeleland, home of the Ndebeles who were at the time PF-ZAPU's main followers, this dissidence continued through 1987. It involved attacks on government personnel and installations, armed banditry aimed at disrupting security and economic life in the rural areas, and harassment of ZANU-PF members.<ref name=l>{{cite news|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad28|title=HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE|work=History World|date=4 May 2007|access-date=4 May 2007|archive-date=24 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624112253/http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad28|url-status=live}}</ref>

Because of the unsettled security situation immediately after independence and democratic sentiments, the government kept in force a "state of emergency". This gave the government widespread powers under the "Law and Order Maintenance Act," including the right to detain persons without charge which it used quite widely. In 1983 to 1984 the government declared a curfew in areas of Matabeleland and sent in the army in an attempt to suppress members of the Ndebele tribe. The pacification campaign, known as the Gukuruhundi, or strong wind, resulted in at least 20,000 civilian deaths perpetrated by an elite, North Korean-trained brigade, known in Zimbabwe as the [[Gukurahundi]].

ZANU-PF increased its majority in the 1985 elections, winning 67 of the 100 seats. The majority gave Mugabe the opportunity to start making changes to the constitution, including those with regard to land restoration. Fighting did not cease until Mugabe and Nkomo reached an agreement in December 1987 whereby ZAPU became part of ZANU-PF and the government changed the constitution to make Mugabe the country's first executive president and Nkomo one of two vice-presidents.