A shopping centre in Harare's smart northern suburbs demonstrates the dichotomies in Zimbabwe ahead of a critical ZANU-PF national congress scheduled for early December. A regional fast food chain displays a massive sign bearing the Zimbabwean flag, proclaiming that Chicken Inn has "that original Zimbabwean taste we luv (sic)." The establishment competes with a new KFC franchise, located just on the other side of the parking lot, proudly bearing the image of Colonel Sanders. The indigenization versus liberalization struggle is mirrored in the political realm, too. Internal divisions in both major political parties threaten the recent economic success that enabled the return of international establishments like KFC to Zimbabwe following nearly a decade of hyperinflation. President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF emerged triumphant following 2013 elections, delivering a major blow to the opposition MDC with which it formed a dysfunctional unity government after suspect elections in 2008. ZANU-PF was further strengthened in April 2014 by the latest in a series of MDC splits following a failed attempt by former Finance Minister Tendai Biti to unseat long serving party leader Morgan Tsvangirai (although it now appears that reunification of the main MDC offshoots is imminent). ZANU-PF is dealing with challenges of its own, however, [...]
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