National capital: Harare
Administrative divisions: 8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial
status; Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central,
Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo (Victoria), Matabeleland
North, Matabeleland South, Midlands
Independence: 18 April 1980 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 18 April (1980)
Constitution: 21 December 1979
Legal system: mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Co-Vice Presidents Simon Vengai MUZENDA (since 31 December 1987) and Joshua M. NKOMO (since 6 August 1990); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government : Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Co-Vice Presidents Simon Vengai MUZENDA (since 31 December 1987) and Joshua M. NKOMO (since 6 August 1990); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet : Cabinet appointed by the president; responsible to the House of Assembly elections: president nominated by the House of Assembly for a six-year term (if more than one nomination, an electoral college consisting of members of the House of Assembly elects the president); election last held 26-27 March 1996 (next to be held NA March 2002); co-vice presidents appointed by the president election results: Robert Gabriel MUGABE elected president; percent of electoral college vote - Robert Gabriel MUGABE 92.7%, Abel MUZOREWA 4.8%; Ndabaningi SITHOLE 2.4%
Legislative branch: unicameral parliament, called House of Assembly (150 seats, 120 of which are directly elected by popular vote for six-year terms; of the other 30 seats, 12 are nominated by the president, 10 are occupied by traditional chiefs chosen by their peers, and 8 by provincial governors) elections: last held 8-9 April 1995 (next to be held NA April 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ZANU-PF 117, ZANU-Ndonga 2, independent 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court