QUESTION: DISCUSS THE PROBLEMS FACED BY THE GOVERNMENT AT

AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE AND EXPLAIN HOW THE GOVERNMENT

SOLVED THESE PROBLEMS.

With the attainment of independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was pregnant with euphoria, new
hopes and expectations. Many indigenous people considered that their misery was over and
better days lay ahead. But as was the armed struggle before, self-governance was not just a
stroll in the park for the new African leadership. The onset of independence brought with it a
lot of challenges that included establishment of peace and state security, meeting some
economic and political expectations of people who had supported the armed struggle and
attempted to end the bitter divisions after so any years of war.

The new Government assumed control of a hungry nation, ravaged by war and victimized by
external as well as internal economic pressures. Zimbabweans, who had sacrificed so much
for self-determination, waited expectantly for relief. Their leaders, although anxious to
comply, faced many obstacles (Fauber, 1981). Besides all this, there was also an issue of the
residue of war to contend with. As a direct result of the war, many people died, a lot were
injured, and thousands were displaced. Quite a number of people remained in protective
villages as many homes were destroyed. The previous white minority Government had
borrowed heavily in order to conduct the war and left Zimbabwe deeply in debt. True to this
assertion, the complexity of these problems required the Government of the day to urgently
take some necessary steps to avert these issues.

Maize is the main component of the Zimbabwean diet. During the war, many farms were
abandoned or destroyed resulting in a decline in maize production. Beginning in 1974, the
Rhodesian Government also suppressed maize prices in an effort to combat increasing
malnutrition. The result, however, was that maize became such an unprofitable crop that
many farmers turned to tobacco instead. Subsequent maize production declined by 40 percent
(Chirisa, 2003). The drought of 1981-82 added to this dilemma. The maize shortage, along
with a wartime increase in theft, contributed to a shortage in beef. These shortages gave rise
to increased malnutrition, especially in the rural areas.

Integration of the three belligerent armies was very slow and impossible at sight. Some
guerrillas and an acceptable element of the Rhodesian forces provided a much larger army
than the country required. The bigger problem also came when some opted to remain heavily

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armed in assembly points. These emerging hostilities after the war also became a challenge.
For instance, about 300 dissident guerrillas were rounded up in the Gutu area from the
Foxtrot assembly point armed with an assortment of weapons (The Herald, 23 August 1980).
Other guerrillas did not assemble at all creating a big challenge to the new government
especially in areas of Gokwe and Nkayi. To try and avert this problem, the new Zimbabwean
government created a programme called Operation Seed. This programme was concerned
with clearing land and establishing irrigation schemes throughout the country. The
government also encouraged some former fighters to revert back to civilian lives.

Then came the industrial Crisis in Industry of 1980 (Fauber, 1981). Factory workers in
Harare and Bulawayo had been on strike due to racial tensions and low pay. After calling on
their new Government to raise wages, they were urged to look to their unions for relief. But
the trade unions were in a shambles. They had been accused of defrauding and
misrepresenting their members and were unable to deal with the problem effectively.
Consequently, the strikes strengthened and continued causing disruptions in the sugar and
mining industries. On 02 June 1980, the minister of labour and social services Mr Kumbirai
Kangai introduced the minimum wage act. The act prohibited discrimination in the payment
of wages on the grounds of sex, race or age across all grades of employment. It also voided
any contracts in conflict with its mandate.

Meanwhile, after independence, the agricultural industry was severe in debt and the country
had another crisis to contend with. As Coclough (1990) acknowledges, the Zimbabwean
economy promised a sharp growth between 1980 and 1981 but then dwindled due to
prolonged drought, falling mineral exports and rising public sector debt. Unstable economic
conditions were forcing Zimbabwe's largest employer, the tobacco industry out of business.
Suppliers would no longer accept credit and few loans were available. The tobacco industry
alone faced an estimated annual loss of more than 25 million dollars.

Unemployment, estimated to be over twenty five percent was expected to worsen. Half of the
population was under fifteen years of age. And, due to the war, most of those young people
had missed years of education. Large numbers of them were certain to enter the ranks of the
unemployed with guerrillas who were left jobless upon cease-fire. The war distorted the
structure of the labour force; it was bloated with the young, the uneducated, and the unskilled.
There was no room in industry for this surplus labour supply.

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 The government then sought to reduce this problem by introduction of government
sponsored cooperatives both in rural and peri urban areas through promulgation of the
Cooperative Policy Paper in 1983 and subsequently a ministry for cooperatives in 1986
(Chirisa, 2003). These were social and economic measures to encourage people to work
together in irrigation schemes, poultry projects, bread making as well as sewing and knitting.

Zimbabweans had long struggled under the social and economic burdens of oppression and
poverty. Therefore, establishment of majority rule created a post-independence crisis of
expectation. The new Government had promised change as it came to power but these
changes could not happen instantly. The future Finance Minister had promised a radical
realignment of the economy and redistribution of wealth to help the poor. The Prime Minister
vowed that racial discrimination and exploitation would no longer be tolerated. President
Canaan Banana promised that everything possible would be done to improve the economy,
wages, and working conditions. The citizens of Zimbabwe expected relief and were impatient
for results. If the new Government of Zimbabwe failed to respond quickly and make good its
promises, it was sure to face a crisis. The majority of the black population was resident in
communal areas and had to contend with declining quality of land, diminishing land sizes,
overpopulation and insecure infrastructure to customary lands. The majority of those based in
the urban areas lived in squalid conditions.

In an effort to tackle this problem, the government increased social expenditure, especially in
the area of education, housing and health delivery. Primary health and education were offered
for free and this led to a significant improvement in literacy levels and health standards.
However these measures were not complemented by an increase in government revenues but
were highly dependent on government (domestic and international) borrowing (Bond, 1998).
Thus that the economic reforms of 1980s -90s were partially impossible on the government as
part of a strategy to reduce social expenditure but instead, they contributed to the shrink of
sectors of industry, in the process fuelling urban to rural migration which also renewed
demand for land distribution (Moyo, 2000).

The Planning Division of the then Ministry of Education was confronted by many problems
and challenges from the onset. Some of which included, the rapid expansion of the education
system, inequality, manpower shortages and financial constraints. A dual system of education
existed in Zimbabwe during the colonial period, one system for Whites and Coloureds and
the other for Africans. Each system's aims and purposes were designed to prepare children for

3
their predetermined statuses in life: that of employer/master for the white status in life and
that of labourer/servant for the African child. While the European education system offered
each child years of free education, the African system was voluntary, highly restricted and
not free at any level. Colonial government also virtually excluded Africans from skilled and
high-level manpower training institutions.

Post-Independence systems in education and training then conformed mainly to Zanu (PF)'s
election manifestos of 1980 and 1985. The main orientations of these reforms were guided by
the following policy principles: decolonization of the system, abolition of the social
structures, democratisation of access to education, localization of curriculum and
examinations, vocationalisation of the secondary school curriculum, promotion of socialism
and promotion of social transformation. It also afforded the construction of new schools as
well as opening the space for new and private players in the education sector.

There were also developments in the manpower training field thereafter hinged on the
establishment of the Ministry of Manpower Planning and Development in line with the
findings and recommendations of the Manpower Development Survey of 1982. Overall, the
manpower development efforts emphasised on; quality and relevance of training,
development of Science and technology, management and entrepreneurship training,
development of skills that promote self -reliance and self-employment. This by and large
benefited the previously marginalised black population.

Significant reforms in education and training since 1980 also included abolition of primary
school tuition fees, removal of racial discrimination, and enforcement of automatic promotion
from Glade 1 to Grade 7 and introduction of no selection for entry into Form 1. There was
also an introduction of the Zimbabwe National Teacher Education Course (ZINTEC)
programme as well as hiring of expatriate teachers from Cuba and Ghana, meant to improve
the teacher to children ration in schools. Education administrative and management structures
were also decentralised to carter for the different needs of each province.

The government also faced major problems also faced major issues of equity and health to
health care after independence. The first major issue was to correct the maldistribution of
health resources on the country (Agere, 1990). This was also compounded by a health
provision infrastructure destroyed by war as well as an acute shortage of health provisioning

4
personnel such as doctors and nurses. Most health care facilities such as clinics and rural
satellite care centres were destroyed by during war.

So after independence, the government had to embark on a massive reconstruction of

hospitals, clinics and village health centres. Besides hiring expatriate health experts such as
Cuban doctors, the government also trained many indigenous nurses as well village health
workers to provide primary care services at village and ward levels. Above all this, free
health care service was also provided until 1990.

In short, Zimbabwe was a troubled nation. Its people were suffering both physically and
economically, yet the nation’s needs were great. With odds pitted against them, the
parliament and government prepared to meet those needs. Burdened by an inherited debt,
hunger, severe drought, economic and social expectation, the incoming government truly had
a mammoth task to comprehend. The residue of war, integration of belligerent armies, the
industrial crisis, rising unemployment and an ever increasing urban population did not make
it any easy for the governed. However, faced with all these seemingly insurmountable
challenges, incoming had find solutions and had to do it fast. The period after 1990 saw the
black government introduce a raft of measures to mitigate these problems as well as address
colonial imbalances. This period witnessed the introduction of the Minimum Wage Act, free
primary education and free health delivery system. A number of secondary schools were built
especially in the disadvantaged rural areas.

The army was successfully downsized complemented by operation seed which saw the
introduction of irrigation schemes throughout the country spearheaded by the former fighters.
It is unfortunate that most of these measures were not complemented by an increase in
government revenues but were highly dependent on government domestic and international
borrowing. Thus it is important to note that these economic reforms albeit successful, it was
partially impossible on the government as part of a strategy to reduce social expenditure but
instead, they contributed to the shrink of sectors of industry, in the process fuelling urban to
rural migration which also renewed demand for land distribution.

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References

Christopher Coclough, (1990). International Journal of Educational Development. New

Innocent Charisa, (2003). Policies And Strategies To Manage Urban Insecurities. Harare,

Patrick Bond, (1998). A Study Of Finance Development And Under Development. Harare:
Mambo Press
Sam Moyo, (2000). Land reform and changing social relations for farm workers in

Samuel Agere, (1990). Issues Of Equity In Access To Healthcare In Zimbabwe. Harare,

Zimbabwe

Sue A Fauber, (1981). Minimum Wage Legislation In Developing Countries. Zimbabwe

Tendai Murisa, (2010). Social Development in Zimbabwe. York: Macmillan

The Herald, 23 August 1980