Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil. (Communication Studies)
Post-2000 Zimbabwe has been characterised by massive political contestations mainly
between the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government
and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The struggle for power has oftentimes
been nasty and brutal. ZANU-PF largely accuses the MDC of being ‘puppets’ of the British
and Americans whilst MDC accuses ZANU-PF of ‘dictatorship’. This rivalry has largely
been more pronounced during election periods where it takes place through, among
others, political advertisements, music and election rallies. Despite the centrality of
political advertising in this contest, there has been little study of political advertising in
Zimbabwe. Many of the studies of Zimbabwean elections and ZANU-PF discourse
focused on media coverage of elections, official speeches, music and alleged use of
violence by ZANU-PF to retain power. But these studies of ZANU-PF discourse have
tended to either be uncritically pro-ZANU-PF or anti-ZANU-PF (Moore, 2012). This is a
result of scholars’ abysmal and inappropriate application of Western theory in African
contexts. It is equally a result of post-colonial theory’s re-inscription of that which it seeks
to undo. The study proposes utilising a multi-theoretical approach that borrows from
Western theory, post-colonial theory and decolonial theory in the study ZANU-PF
advertisements. It employs thematic analysis, critical discourse analysis and semiotic
analysis. The study found out that ZANU-PF discourse is fluid and context-specific;
borrows from the present, past and future and is not always about the liberation struggle.
It also established that ZANU-PF only engaged the MDC-T and ignored smaller parties
and refrained from attack advertising. Finally, Robert Mugabe, the ZANU-PF leader and
presidential candidate, was a key component of ZANU-PF’s electoral product.
Interestingly, from the findings, the study concludes that; the predominance of Mugabe’s
images is not a sign of the personalisation and patriarchal nature of Zimbabwean politics;
comparative advertising and negative advertising are central political advertising tactics
in post-colonial contexts such as Zimbabwe as much as in established democracies. The
study, some of whose sections have already been published (see Chibuwe 2013),
suggests the need for a new theory in the reading of the ZANU-PF discourse.