Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions the ZCTU launched a major economic policy statement, 'Beyond ESAP', criticising the Mugabe government's adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). The ESAP involved the introduction of neoliberal macroeconomic policies, at the encouragement of the World Bank. The ZCTU was the main force behind the formation of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, established in 1999. The Secretary-General of the ZCTU, Morgan Tsvangirai, later became the President of the MDC. As of January 2014 the following unions were affiliated to the ZCTU. Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions is the primary trade
Robert Mugabe He reluctantly took part in the peace negotiations brokered by the United Kingdom that resulted in the Lancaster House Agreement. The agreement dismantled the short-lived Zimbabwe Rhodesia and resulted in the 1980 general election, at which Mugabe led ZANU-PF to victory. Mugabe's administration expanded healthcare and education and—despite his Marxist rhetoric and professed desire for a socialist society—adhered largely to mainstream, conservative economic policies. His calls for racial reconciliation failed to stem growing white flight. Relations with Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) declined, with Mugabe's government crushing ZAPU-linked opposition in Matabeleland during the Gukurahundi between 1982 and 1985;