Zimbabwe's Independence Research Articles

Assessing results-based personnel performance system in the Ministry of Home and Child Care, Zimbabwe

A formal performance management (PM) system was adopted and put into place in Zimbabwe in 1995 because of many suggestions made by the Public Service Review Commission (PSRC). However, the human resource management (HRM) period since the 1980s has had flaws that led to the implementation of the Results-Based Personnel Performance System (RBPPS) in 2005, particularly in terms of the Africanisation drive following Zimbabwe's independence and the PM system that followed in 1995. The study's objective is to examine the effectiveness of RBPPS in improving the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC) performance in Zimbabwe. Information was gathered and compiled using a qualitative research methodology. The research identified elements that contributed to PM's failure in the MOHCC, including management's lack of commitment, a lack of ongoing training, and flaws in the planning and execution of PM. As a result, the government eventually implemented the RBPPS to improve the PM process. The study considers empirical and scholarly findings that may lead to more significant outcomes for Zimbabwe's public sector.

Writing with Purpose: Invention, Rage, and Freedom

Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth defines the work that I do as a rhetorician. I remember sitting in my college dorm room, vibrating as I read it for the first time. Are you allowed to write like this? I’d never encountered writing quite like it: poetic, urgent, direct. By then, I’d absorbed the idea that sophisticated writing—writing that tries to convey this thing that’s always called nuance—doesn’t name or assail power directly but talks around it. In contrast, the first few pages of this book announce that this writer intends for his work to do something in the world: “Decolonization, which sets out to change the order of the world, is clearly an agenda for total disorder” (1). My continued engagement with this and with other work by Fanon (most especially Black Skin, White Masks) has impressed upon me how much his writing is concerned with the problem of invention. How do we make new selves in the wake of the injury that is colonialism? I labor over this question as I write about how in the early years of independence in Zimbabwe, state actors and citizens alike struggled to remake not only notions of the racialized and gendered self, but ways of moving and being in public spaces.Jane Caputi’s The Age of Sex Crime, another book I first read as an undergraduate student, was one of the first texts to model for me what cultural critics do—how they read across genres and media, taking interest in things like cultural ephemera—to tell a compelling story about how power operates. It argues that the serial murders of women animate Western culture, functioning as a “mythic/ritualistic act in contemporary patriarchy” (3). Caputi’s text is equal parts feminist polemic and academic study, written with a gripping anger and clarity. This text taught me that as feminist critics, we can make our object anything we encounter that provokes us, pushes back against us, and makes us see clearly the waters in which we are immersed.I feel like I become a different person after I read a Toni Morrison novel. I first read Morrison’s Paradise just before I began fieldwork for my dissertation, feeling a little depleted and anxious. I was emboldened and transformed by this book. Paradise is a novel about an Oklahoma town named Ruby, a Black utopia whose racial, gender, and moral boundaries are policed by a group of patriarchs. The women who have been cast out of this utopia find refuge in a place on the edge of town called the Convent. The Convent is a site of nurturing, healing, and magic, as the women mobilize the material and metaphysical to protect each other. It doesn’t give the ending away to tell you that these powerful and therefore terrifying women are disciplined in a spectacularly violent fashion—the book begins and ends with the witch hunt meant to silence them once and for all. Morrison chafed at the suggestion that she had written a feminist book, countering that she wasn’t in the business of writing what she derisively called “‘ist’ novels.” It’s the writer’s prerogative to insist that art ought not be subsumed by ideology, but with all respect to Morrison, this is an unmistakably feminist novel. It attends to the power—and danger—of women’s spaces and intimacies. In my own work, I return to the tantalizing promise of Black women’s congregation, to the possibilities held in Black women’s collective attempts at escape and freedom.

The Commonwealth and Rhodesia, 1965-1980

ABSTRACT This article discusses the significance for the Commonwealth of the period between Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 and the formal end of British sovereignty in 1980. Rhodesia was one of many severe problems that confronted the Commonwealth during this period, but its response to the UDI helped to shape the contemporary Commonwealth in terms of its organisation, values, and statesmanship. This article suggests that although the independence of Zimbabwe represented a triumph for the Commonwealth, it also generated a mixed legacy because Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth have since failed to live up to the frequently-espoused rhetoric of racial justice, democracy, and human rights.

The Problematics of Language-in-Education Policies in Post-Independence in Zimbabwe

Language policies that are designed in African countries fail to solve communication problems because they are only there to fight the hegemony of English instead of addressing real linguistic problems. The paper analyses the language-in-education policies that were put in place after independence in Zimbabwe. A qualitative approach is used to analyse documents that include the Education Act of 1987, the Nziramasanga Commission, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education circulars and the Constitution of Zimbabwe. It is argued in this paper that there is a need for the country to come up with policies that are in sync with the linguistic realities that acknowledge the coexistence of languages.

War songs and hope during the Second Chimurenga in Zimbabwe: a critical discourse analysis approach

War songs played a pivotal role during the struggle for independence in Zimbabwe. War songs provoked people’s thoughts, feelings and mood to fight for the liberation of the country. Slogans, songs and music that were sung and performed during the war of liberation, popularly known as the Second Chimurenga (1971–1979), instilled hope in both the liberation fighters and the masses as they gave them the strength to continue fighting until the attainment of independence. The war songs that were inextricably linked to the hard-fought struggle were the bedrock or cornerstone in boosting the fighters’ morale. Thus, the aim of the article is to discuss the pivotal role of war songs in winning the struggle against colonialism through instilling hope in both the masses and fighters. The language embedded in war songs oozed with power and urged the African fighters to soldier on despite all odds. Using critical discourse analysis of six war songs, namely Maruza imi (You have been defeated), Rova ngoma Mutavara (Hit the drum, Mutavara), Nyika yedu yababa (Our country, the land of our forefathers), Mhoroi mose mose (Greetings everyone), Tichafara tasvika muZimbabwe (We will be happy when we get to Zimbabwe) and Mbuya Nehanda kufa vachitaura (Grandmother Nehanda died speaking), the article argues that war songs are embedded with messages and emotions that give participants the vigour and energy to succeed despite the odds.

Celebrating traditional medical practice in the Shona novel Ndoitawo Zvakaita Vamwe

This article attempts to make a critical appraisal of PHD Ngwaraingwe’s novel, Ndoitawo Zvakaita Vamwe. This novel was published in 1984, a few years into Zimbabwe’s independence, but both the author and his work are little known by readers in the country. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to unravel Ngwaraingwe’s artistic and creative purpose in writing this novel and perhaps draw readers’ and critics’ attention to it. The article makes the assertion that Ngwaraingwe aimed at making his contribution to the cultural revival that characterised the early years of independence in Zimbabwe. Guided by Afrocentricity, the writers of this article argue that Ndoitawo Zvakaita Vamwe is an attempt by Ngwaraingwe at propping up Shona traditional medicine and its practitioners by riding on the crest of the euphoric and celebratory mood that dominated the early post-independence years in Zimbabwe. Ngwaraingwe employs the oral narrative technique, and takes an ideological position to make a strong bid in favour of recognising Shona cultural institutions in national development. However, his bid to persuade the reader to buy into his project fails due to the introduction of fantastic elements and the use of sickening and unpleasant language.

The Zimbabwe people’s revolutionary army military operations in Makonde district and the attack on Salisbury’s fuel storage tanks, 1965-1979

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army operations in Mashonaland West province with particular reference to Makonde District during the country’s war of liberation. Despite the growing literature on ZAPU and ZPRA in Zimbabwe’s war of liberation there is little that has been written concerning the operations of ZPRA guerrillas in Mashonaland provinces. Guided by evidence drawn from secondary and primary sources the article further asserts that ZPRA adopted a four pronged strategy in Makonde District. This strategy in part was hinged on the politicization of the population on the one hand and annihilation of the enemy forces, attrition and manoeuvre warfare on the other. Again, the article argues that ZPRA guerrillas attempted to capture Salisbury (Harare) in order to conquer the Rhodesian Security Forces’ centre of gravity. It was hoped that the capture of the capital city would Makoni District was of strategic significance to the conduct of ZPRA operations and arguably hastened Ian Smith’s decision to attend the Lancaster House Conference negotiations that led to the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980.

Economic nationalism amid ethnic disharmony in postcolonial Zimbabwe (1980-2013): A case of Matabeleland Provinces

The colonial legacy of uneven economic development in Zimbabwe and the use of such constructs as ‘Mashonaland’, ‘Matabeleland’ and ‘Manicaland’ have remained substantially unaltered under the post-colonial government. Those regions and peoples with privileged access to national economic resources after independence have implemented policies to ensure that this advantage has continued. The unintended resultant effect is the stimulation of ethnic consciousness on the part of those social groups that believe that they are economically marginalized because of their ethnicity. This article focuses on the distributive concerns that have arisen since independence in Zimbabwe in terms of which the lack of economic development parity in the colonially conceived provinces of Zimbabwe has given rise to ethnically motivated political contestation and national economic stagnation. It argues that the economic disparity and the concomitant ‘diaspora’ phenomenon in Zimbabwe can be dealt with if policies based on ethnic considerations and favouritism give way to merit-oriented ones. This article argues that distributive concerns are situated at the heart of Zimbabwe’s economic and political challenges which inevitably feed into each other to concoct an economic dispensation that rewards the dominant ethnic group in the echelons of power. This is based on an observational or ethnographic qualitative research methodology that was used to collect data through in-depth interviews. Document analysis of the diverse works on Matabeleland complemented the interview data. The research found that uneven economic development and patron-client ties contributed to the politicization of ethnicity, thus relegating groups that are not represented in the higher echelons of power to the fringes of the national economy. It concludes by suggesting that the reconciliation process must be ongoing and genuinely supported by transparent mechanisms to get rid of the “victims” mentality amongst the people of Matabeleland for lasting peace and unity to prevail.

A General Legislative Analysis of "Torture" as a Human Rights Violation in Zimbabwe

Several challenges involving torture-related human rights violations have been reported in Zimbabwe from the late 1970s to date. Notably, these torture-related human rights violations were problematic during the liberation war era in Zimbabwe. Regrettably, such violations are allegedly still prevalent, especially prior to and/or during general political elections in Zimbabwe. Accordingly, this article investigates torture as a human rights violation in Zimbabwe, inter alia by focusing on the role of selected law enforcement agencies in the protection of human rights in Zimbabwe. The article also discusses the legal position on torture and the perpetration of torture against ordinary people prior to as well as after independence in Zimbabwe. This is done to investigate the adequacy of the legal framework in Zimbabwe with regard to the combatting of torture. In relation to this, selected regional and international legal frameworks against torture are briefly discussed in order to determine possible measures that could be utilised in Zimbabwe. The authors submit that although the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No 20) Act, 2013 (Zimbabwe Constitution, 2013) prohibits torture, more may still need to be done to enhance the combatting of torture in Zimbabwe. For instance, apart from the prohibition contained in the Zimbabwe Constitution, 2013, there is no legislation that expressly outlaws torture in Zimbabwe. Moreover, Zimbabwe has not ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 1984 (UN Convention against Torture) to date. Lastly, concluding remarks and possible recommendations that could be employed to discourage torture-related human rights abuses in Zimbabwe are provided.
 

URBAN YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF A DOLLARISED ECONOMY IN ZIMBABWE

The attainment of independence in Zimbabwe in 1980 was met with a mounting problem of rural to urban migration by people who had long been constrained by the colonial administration (Bond 2003). The influx of migrants into the urban areas quickly swallowed the available jobs that the urban areas could offer to the new urbanites. From the year 1980, urban unemployment has been on the increase and, notably, has been dominated by the youths because of the high mobility that characterises this age group against a shrinking economy and a productive base. Today, urban youth unemployment in Zimbabwe has reached 42 per cent among the urban unemployed, which is among the highest on the continent (Feresu, Chimhowu and Manjengwa 2010).

The “Horror” of African Spirituality

The Conradian journey into the African interior also signified, in the Western colonial imaginary, an encounter with a seemingly incomprehensible spirituality. African spirituality was the site of excess, epitomized by darkness, frenzy, madness, superstition, and illogicality. Based on a reading of Andrea Eames's The Cry of the Go-Away Bird and Peter Godwin's Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa, this article proposes that white-authored Zimbabwean narratives written after colonialism display a wider range of attitudes toward African spirituality, which are at once multiple and ambivalent. The two narratives, appearing at least a decade after Zimbabwe's independence from white minority rule, work against the dominant "white" fear of Christian decline and the attendant descent into spiritual darkness and enable a secondary non-secular experimentation with African spirituality. I use the core concept of horror from Heart of Darkness to treat jointly the experience among whites in Africa of encountering an "other" faith and the literary tradition of representing such an experience.

From Settlers to Strays: white Zimbabwean women, historical memory and belonging in the diaspora c.1980–2010

ABSTRACTBased on interviews with thirty women, this article examines white attitudes to the coming of Zimbabwe's independence in 1980. As it details, many of the interviewees construct problematic versions of the past, foregrounding what Annie E. Coombes has termed the ‘deceptively benign’ nature of settler colonialism. Through an examination of the context in which the interviews were conducted, the article comments on the mobilisation of certain post-colonial narratives regarding Zimbabwe's recent past. By examining the voices of some of Southern Africa's ‘orphans of empire', it engages with existing literatures on white women and empire, settler colonialism and diaspora studies.

Prevalence, perceptions and factors influencing the use of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) in Zimbabwe’s adult population: The case of Bindura District

IntroductionThe attainment of political independence in Zimbabwe saw increased recognition of traditional medicine after close to a century of its repression under colonial rule. Over the last decade, the use of traditional and complementary medicines (T&CM) has been linked to; population beliefs on the use of T&CM, economic hardship and an increase in the chronic disease burden in Zimbabwe. MethodsSelf-reporting questionnaires were handed to a randomly selected sample of adults (245) residing in Bindura, Zimbabwe between June and July of 2015. Completed questionnaires were either given to the researchers (153 questionnaires, 98.7%), posted (1 questionnaire, 0.64%) to the researchers, or dropped by the respondents into a pigeon hole (1 questionnaire, 0.64%). ResultsThe survey had a 63.3% response rate (n=155). The prevalence of T&CM use among respondents was 60.0% (95% confidence interval 51.9% to 69.5%). Most Christians (98%) reported the use of one form of T&CM or another. However certain religious denominations, namely the Apostolic Churches (2%), forbade the use of T&CM excluding nutritional supplements. The study also showed that the use of T&CM in Bindura was influenced, to a great extent, by traditional knowledge and societal values. Additionally, the respondents largely perceived T&CM providers as offering better services than the allopathic practitioners. However, the respondents viewed T&CM products as safe, but not better alternatives to allopathic products. ConclusionThe use of T&CM in Zimbabwe is similar to that in other developing, but not developed, countries. Religion was shown to be a dominant factor in the use of T&CM.

A Social Realist Account of Curriculum Development and Implementation in Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2004: With Special Reference to the Education with Production Model

Following the attainment of independence in Zimbabwe in 1980, the dual education system for blacks and whites was abolished and an experimental education system linked to the Marxist concept of polytechnic education known as Education with Production (EWP) was introduced to model the country's socialist ideology. The aim of this article is to evaluate, through a social realist theoretical framework, using the concepts of structure, culture and agency the implementation of the EWP educational innovation. This was a qualitative study conducted through interviews and document analysis. The finding in this article is that while structures were put in place to implement the new curriculum, at the level of culture, teachers largely inherited from the colonial education system were not adequately oriented or prepared for the new education system, neither was public debate opened on the envisioned education system. In terms of agency, the paper argues that preparation of personnel and the involvement of stakeholders before an innovation is implemented are crucial for the successful implementation of such an innovation.

A Social Realist Account of Curriculum Development and Implementation in Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2004: With Special Reference to the Education with Production Model

Following the attainment of independence in Zimbabwe in 1980, the dual education system for blacks and whites was abolished and an experimental education system linked to the Marxist concept of polytechnic education known as Education with Production (EWP) was introduced to model the country’s socialist ideology. The aim of this article is to evaluate, through a social realist theoretical framework, using the concepts of structure, culture and agency the implementation of the EWP educational innovation. This was a qualitative study conducted through interviews and document analysis. The finding in this article is that while structures were put in place to implement the new curriculum, at the level of culture, teachers largely inherited from the colonial education system were not adequately oriented or prepared for the new education system, neither was public debate opened on the envisioned education system. In terms of agency, the paper argues that preparation of personnel and the involvement of stakeholders before an innovation is implemented are crucial for the successful implementation of such an innovation.

Rethinking the notion of chimurenga in the context of political change in Zimbabwe

Chimurenga music was popularised by Africans during the struggle for independence in Zimbabwe in the 1970s. Its creators were freedom fighters struggling against colonialism. This music was articulated from guerrilla bases in Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia, and from some local artists inside Zimbabwe. Chimurenga music protested against the exploitation of Africans by colonialism, and also critiqued the oppression of women within African society. Critics of chimurenga music have given the erroneous impression that the musical genre ended in 1980, and that there was only one version of chimurenga music. After independence, chimurenga music has criticised corruption, bad governance by the new leaders and delays in redistributing land to the African masses. Post-independence Zimbabwean singers with varying levels of political consciousness and employing different linguistic strategies have created different ways of naming reality through alternative versions of chimurenga music. These Zimbabwean male musicians demonstrate that attempts to generate a local discourse of freedom in the era of globalisation and corporate organisations that control the production and distribution of chimurenga music produce not one version of chimurenga music, but multiple versions (and sub/versions) of chimurenga music that confirm, collude, overlap and contradict each other in their ways of naming the post-independence Zimbabwean reality.

Language Planning, Language Ideology and Entextualization: War Naming Practices

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between language and war by investigating naming practices through three prisms: language planning, language ideology and entextualization. The article focuses on names assigned to combatants during the War of Liberation for Zimbabwe's independence. In African cultures, names often address a kaleidoscope of issues which may include the collective history and life experiences of the individual name bearer and the people surrounding him or her. In most African contexts changes in an individual's personal circumstances are marked by a name change, which suggests that names are variable and are not immutable. Entering the guerilla movement in Zimbabwe was a significant transformation which, in accordance with African cultural practices, required a new name to be assigned to signify the entry into a new phase of life. The names assigned reflect a “discourse” about the hopes and aspirations of the combatants. However, it appears that the underlying principles of naming in war are not significantly different from those during peacetime. In addition, war naming practices have implications for language planning from below, language ideologies and entextualization.

Zimbabwe-Russia Relations in the 21st Century

The 21st century has witnessed the intensification of relations between Zimbabwe and the East and other favorable states, Russia among them. Historically under the socialist rhetoric the two countries shared a common political ideology. Zimbabwe- Russia relations dates back to the era of the liberation struggle. The Soviet Union aided Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe People's Union and later the Patriotic Front which included Mugabe's Zimbabwe National African Union. The Soviet Union aided the Patriotic Front freedom fighters with training, material and logistical support. After Zimbabwe's independence in 1981, diplomatic relations between Russia and Zimbabwe were efficiently established. These relations were interrupted in 1989 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia maintained her ties with Zimbabwe during this interruption but all the same the relations were non-eventful. The inception of the 21st century witnessed the revival intensification of relations between the two states. Russia's ties with Zimbabwe were re awakened following the invasion of Iraq by the US led coalition of the willing in March 2003 which coincided with the unprecedented pressure on Zimbabwe following the 2002 elections. The revival of these relations is depicted by trade agreements signed between the two states, actions of government officials concerned, in the diplomatic and academic circles as well as by the media reports. The aim of this paper is to highlight how common ideology, foreign policy principles and objectives and commonality of interests between the two states have led to co- operation. Issues characterizing the revival and intensification of relations between the two states will be highlighted and these will provide the appropriate framework upon which the relations between Zimbabwe and Russia could be understood. The paper brings to evidence that the revival of relations between the two states is partly driven by the deterioration of relations between Zimbabwe and the West.

The mobilization of popular music in the promotion of national unity in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT Almost three decades now after Zimbabwe's independence, the marshalling of popular music in order to propel the nationalist movement has still not received the academic attention it deserves. This article analyses the crucuality of popular music in the forging of national unity during and after the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe. The armed nationalist struggle, epically referred to as chimurenga, was significantly buoyed up by war songs invariably composed inside and outside the country as the war heated up. The indispensability of (national) unity in supporting the war effort so as to win independence compelled the freedom fighters and the masses to constantly manipulate popular songs to harness those cultural traditions vital in rallying the masses behind the nationalist cause. The war of liberation gave birth to chimurenga music, a homogeneity of musical styles bound together by their use as a medium for the articulation of an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist sensibility. I contend that although national unity remains one of Zimbabwe's greatest challenges, historically through chimurenga songs, the country has been able to achieve some notable level of national cohesion.

Laurence Fraser Levy

Laurence Levy was a selfless personality and pioneer of neurosurgery in the developing world who dedicated his life to the people in East and Central Africa. After qualifying in 1945,...