Mutambara challenged the election of Ncube and is now leading his own faction but the courts have ordered him to stop masquerading as a GPA principal.
Tsvangirai was re-elected as the MDC-T leader at a congress held in April. Zanu PF held its annual national people’s conference in December and endorsed Mugabe as the party’s candidate.
As the year progressed, there was also a sustained attack on the democratic forces such as the media and human rights defenders as Zanu PF tried to tighten its grip ahead of planed elections.
The Editor and reporters of The Standard were arrested several times under the notorious criminal defamation laws which human rights activists maintain infringe on the freedom of expression.
Senior officials of the two MDC formations also complained about the selective application of the law where only their members were targeted by law enforcement agents.
Political commentator, Blessing Vava had mixed feelings about 2011. He said it was a bad year as nothing much was achieved in terms of making tangible political, electoral security sector and media reforms, but was good in that Zanu PF attempts to force an election hit a snag.
“The violence we witnessed was not desirable and it increased fear in the citizens,” he said. The year also saw Mugabe making at least nine trips to Singapore for medical checkups as age and health problems took their toll on the 87-year-old leader, in power since Zimbabwe’s independence 31 years ago.
