The Sunday News
Khumbulani Vodloza Sibanda
On Thursday, 18 April 2019 Zimbabwe celebrated its 39th independence anniversary. The independence was borne out of a protracted liberation struggle which was characterised by loss of life and limb.
Before delving into the gains of independence, let me paint a brief picture of the oppressed in Rhodesia under the white settler rule. Blacks were forced to pay various taxes such as hut, cattle and dog tax. If they failed to pay these taxes their cattle were taken away in lieu of the taxes. Heavy taxes such as hut tax were calculated to force black Zimbabweans to work on public projects such as roads, bridges and even private farms. This effectively dispossessed the blacks of their wealth, draught power, independence and dignity.
The dispossession of blacks of their beasts resulted in whites possessing more cattle from virtually nothing. These are the cattle which the whites used to start their cattle ranches with.
The whites even went a step further to reduce blacks’ cattle heads citing overgrazing. Their cattle were reduced to only three beasts per family under the “nhimuramuswe” strategy as Vice-President Dr Constantino Chiwenga put it.
This means that blacks no longer had enough draught power. This is also the reason why President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s family was banished to Zambia after his late father removed a wheel from of the Native Commissioner’s motor vehicles and asked him to drive it on three wheels in the same way that blacks could not do without their cattle.
In terms of agricultural land, blacks were pushed to rocky and sandy soils which were not fertile at all such as those found in areas such as Gokwe. Food security among the blacks was also compromised and, in some cases, blacks were forced to work for the settlers in return for food rations and next-to-nothing wages.
In the education system there were bottle necks which saw very few blacks accessing high school. Only a few educated blacks worked as white collar employees in such fields as teaching, nursing and among others. The majority were consigned mainly to menial jobs despite possessing potential to chalk up groundbreaking achievements in various endeavours in life.
There were other heinous acts which the settlers perpetrated on blacks such as beating workers with sjamboks for simple mistakes which demeaned them. Even grown up men and women were treated as kindergarten children. Fully-grown men were referred to as “Boy” or “Girl” which ran against local culture which upholds and promotes mutual respect.
The above situation was brought to an end when the famous seven liberation war heroes during the Chinhoyi Battle fired the first shots on 28 April 1966 to mark the beginning of the second Chimurenga/Umvukela. The protracted liberation war brought the settler regime to its knees forcing it to the negotiation table. This led to Zanu-PF’s victory during the 1980 elections.
After the war, Government went on to introduce various policies which were meant to correct historical imbalances brought about by colonialism. Black Zimbabweans were now seen as equal to whites and were now free to walk in hitherto whites-only places such as the pavements of Harare’s First Street Mall.
Free education at primary level was introduced with a view to make sure that those who failed to get primary education due to war or bottlenecks by the white regime were now able to continue with their studies. Government provided educational infrastructure such as schools — both primary and secondary — which resolved the bottleneck in education by augmenting the number of the then existing schools especially secondary ones most of which were built by various churches. This programme resulted in the country attaining the highest literacy level in Africa at 94 percent.
In independent Zimbabwe, the number of primary schools increased from 2 401 in 1979 to 5 863 in 2014. The enrolment of pupils in primary schools also improved from 620 000 in 1980 to 2,7 million in 2014. Secondary schools increased from 177 in 1979 to 2 424 in 2014 and enrolments of 66 215 and 979 644, respectively.
Teachers’ colleges enrolment increased with almost every province having its own teachers’ college. This increased the number of trained teachers in line with increased recruitment of students.
At independence there was only one university in Zimbabwe, the University of Zimbabwe (UZ). State universities rose from one to twelve (12) and private ones namely Solusi, Africa University, Women in Africa University, Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University, Catholic and the Arupe Jesuit University also came into being. This development has afforded more students the opportunity to attain university degrees locally. Above all, Zimbabwean graduates are in demand around the globe.
On the health delivery front, a considerable number of health care centres were constructed. To this end, this country boasts of 1 634 primary health care facilities. There are 44 district hospitals and 8 provincial hospitals, while there are six central hospitals. All in all the country has 1 848 health care centres.
One of the pillars for engaging in the liberation struggle was to address the land question. As a result, from the late 90s, the Zanu-PF Government embarked on the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) which saw in excess of 168 671 small-scale producers being resettled under the programme.
In 2018 tobacco amounting to 253 million kilogrammes was sold at auction floors by mainly resettled farmers. This was a commendable feat by resettled farmers in fulfilment of the benefits of the FTLRP.
Infrastructure-wise the road network was extensivel worked on through the District Development Fund (DDF). The rural areas road network which was lagging behind was attended to and as a result transport availability was significantly improved. New bridges were also constructed through food for work programmes.
DDF through its water division went on to sink boreholes across the country in drought prone areas which enabled a number of people to have access to clean drinking water.
Under the new dispensation the country is moving towards economic independence which is underpinned by blacks being owners of mines, safari operations and hotels, among other fields which used to be the preserve of whites.
The just-ended independence celebrations serve as a reminder of the bitter liberation struggle of which our liberty was born and the need to redouble our efforts as a nation to improve our economy and quality of life.
