Opinion / Columnist
The quest to dominate Matabeleland politically, socially and economically
11 Mar 2016 at 15:19hrs | Views
THE hegemony of the Shona people in Zimbabwe has been largely influenced by ethnicity and the quest to dominate Matabeleland politically, socially and economically. Development marginalisation of Matabeleland region, I argue has been influenced by ethnicity and politics of revenge.
The study used ethnography to collect data and hence in-depth interviews were used as data collection tools. The results of the study indicate that Matabeleland has been largely dominated by the Shona ethnic group, and arguments advanced by scholars for this dominance, it is argued, Ndebele dominated the Shona people in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This was due to conquest by the marauding Ndebele warriors under the leadership of King Mzilikazi and latter on King Lobhengula. The ascendance of the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) in the 1980 independence elections opened the gates for the ascendancy of the Shona people as the party was pre-dominantly Shona speaking.
The march to state house by the Zanu-PF dominated party created a lot of tension between the two ethnic groups; Ndebele and Shona, and hence the lashing out of the fifth brigade in 1983 and 1984 in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces of the country.
ConclusionEthnicity and the politics of domination have shaped the development agenda in southern Matabeleland. The 1980s conflict left this region without development initiatives for a number of years. The fact that projects were brought top down without consulting the locals resulted in a number of state initiated projects remaining as "white elephants" in this part of the country as people had no interest in them. Again these "white elephants" were as a result of a development system that focused mainly on political control. In the case of southern Matabeleland, the need to control the region by the ruling party, can then be concluded, led to political structures which created opportunities of placement of loyal party members in positions of power and authority. A majority of those placed in these positions were selected on ethnic lines.
To read the full artciel click >>> HERE
The study used ethnography to collect data and hence in-depth interviews were used as data collection tools. The results of the study indicate that Matabeleland has been largely dominated by the Shona ethnic group, and arguments advanced by scholars for this dominance, it is argued, Ndebele dominated the Shona people in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This was due to conquest by the marauding Ndebele warriors under the leadership of King Mzilikazi and latter on King Lobhengula. The ascendance of the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) in the 1980 independence elections opened the gates for the ascendancy of the Shona people as the party was pre-dominantly Shona speaking.
The march to state house by the Zanu-PF dominated party created a lot of tension between the two ethnic groups; Ndebele and Shona, and hence the lashing out of the fifth brigade in 1983 and 1984 in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces of the country.
ConclusionEthnicity and the politics of domination have shaped the development agenda in southern Matabeleland. The 1980s conflict left this region without development initiatives for a number of years. The fact that projects were brought top down without consulting the locals resulted in a number of state initiated projects remaining as "white elephants" in this part of the country as people had no interest in them. Again these "white elephants" were as a result of a development system that focused mainly on political control. In the case of southern Matabeleland, the need to control the region by the ruling party, can then be concluded, led to political structures which created opportunities of placement of loyal party members in positions of power and authority. A majority of those placed in these positions were selected on ethnic lines.
To read the full artciel click >>> HERE
Source - iosrjournals
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
