Operation Restore Legacy and the Discourse of Legitimacy of the New Political Dispensation in Zimbabwe

The discourse of political legitimacy of African governments has been one of the complex issues underlying political contestation. Narratives on lack of legitimacy has been centered on rejection of the authority of governments which would have acquired power as a result of either military coups or contested elections. In the Zimbabwean context, narratives of political legitimacy gained traction in in 2000 due to increasing political contestation necessitated by the intensification of multiparty democracy. The dynamics of the legitimacy discourse increased after November 2017 when the Zimbabwe Defense Forces executed a military operation codenamed Operation Restore Legacy. The operation marked the end of the Robert Mugabe administration and the rise of a new dispensation led by then vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa. Since then, even after holding harmonized elections in 2018 and 2023, the Mnangagwa administration continues to face criticism on the grounds of legitimacy. Against this backdrop, the major objective of this chapter is to analyze how the discourse of legitimacy has been used in the communication and characterization of power politics in the Zimbabwean context. This will be done through examining the discourses around the constitutionality of Operation Restore Legacy in relation to the means by which the new government acquired power. The main thesis of the chapter is that legitimacy as a concept is a rhetorical abstract that has been employed by groups and individuals in politics to push their narratives towards attaining, maintaining and defending power. Data for this chapter were gathered from a large evidentiary base of books and journal articles.