Abstract
The study is an analysis of the efficacy of government led Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) processes in the context of ethnic based political and military formations that are competing and hostile to each other. It seeks to understand how such a government led DDR process impacts upon the peace building process in the aftermath of a conflict. Many DDR practitioners, policy makers and academics advocate for government leadership and ownership of DDR processes. The justification is that local ownership enables buy-in from local actors and that it makes DDR processes effective and sustainable. This thesis questions this often-iterated peace building judgement. It is a qualitative study that generates most of the data through semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The focus is on the experiences of the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) in the DDR process in Zimbabwe during the periods 1980-1984 and 1997...
D.Litt. et Phil. (Politics and International Relations)