2000s in Zimbabwe 2000s in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe began experiencing a period of considerable political and economic upheaval in 1999. Opposition to President Mugabe and the ZANU-PF government grew considerably after the mid-1990s in part due to worsening economic and human rights conditions. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was established in September 1999 as an opposition party founded by trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC's first opportunity to test opposition to the Mugabe government came in February 2000, when a referendum was held on a draft constitution proposed by the government. Among its elements, the new constitution would have permitted President Mugabe to
Gibson Sibanda to be declared a national hero by both MDC parties, but their plea for Gibson Sibanda to be buried at the Heroes Acre was denied by President Robert Mugabe. Gibson Sibanda Gibson Jama Sibanda (1944 – 24 August 2010) was a Zimbabwean politician and trade unionist. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change and at the time of his death was the Vice-President of the faction of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Arthur Mutambara. A former president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, he was first elected to the House of Assembly in