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A Sociological evaluation of the creation of

absolute poverty in Post-Colonial Zimbabwe

Admore Tshuma, PhD1

Abstract

This paper explores forces of injustice that may have created absolute

poverty in post-colonial Zimbabwe. These forces of injustice have

paradoxically reshaped post-colonial Zimbabwe through myopic socio-

economic and political approaches characterising the current

administration. The paper identifies a contentious socioeconomic

philosophy that has inadvertently generated a new form of injustice which

I refer to as “black-on-black” injustice. This will be explored through a

justice paradigm that seeks to intertwine socioeconomic injustice with

post-colonial political administration. This entails contextualising post-

colonial injustice through Fraser’s theory (1997) of Maldistribution - a

form of injustice that takes the route of economic marginalisation,

exploitation and deprivation of basic goods.

Key words: Postcolonial, poverty, Inequalities, Injustice, self-rule

1 Cite as Tshuma A (2015). A Sociological evaluation of the creation of absolute poverty in Post-Colonial Zimbabwe, South Essex, UK

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1. Introduction

There is little doubt that the advent of Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980

has paradoxically generated a new debate on the notion of freedom and

justice, particularly from philosophical perspectives. For instance, during

the oppressive Rhodesian era, “black rule” was a term coined as the

ultimate rejoinder to the concept of freedom and justice. Nonetheless,

increasing economic inequalities under the black administration that

followed independence raise daunting questions on the initial

“paradigmatic struggles” of redistribution and recognition which certainly

inspired the struggle for black self-rule. Needlessly to say, democratic

Zimbabwe was born from the Rhodesian racial injustices, amidst high

hopes for prosperity, justice and peace, yet, the last three decades have

seen a very significant increase of poverty in the former British colony.

Surely, the country has celebrated three decades of independence after

the demise of the minority white government led by Ian Douglas Smith.

Suffice to say, the black democratic government has been rolling out

socio-economic policies in Zimbabwe, for sometime now. What is at stake

in this paper, is the notion of the creation of absolute poverty under the

black political dispensation, consequently, distorting social democratic

views of distributive justice. It obscures Fraser’s views on culture,

redistribution and recognition, in particular when she argues that cultural

misrecognition drives maldistribution (Fraser, 1995). When Fraser

published her essay From Redistribution to Recognition in 1995 it was

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greeted by a number of social theorists as a major intellectual

contribution on philosophy surrounding injustices. Fraser claimed that

struggles for justice could not succeed unless they are intertwined with a

politics of redistribution and a politics of recognition. Yet, an interrogation

of the postcolonial Zimbabwean epoch shows a significant departure from

Fraser’s theoretical views. The advent of black self-rule in 1980, meant

that the politics of cultural recognition was achieved. This is despite views

that it is often a mammoth task to eradicate cultural misrecognition in

any society.

The current rulers of Zimbabwe are the same “firebrand” black

nationalists who decades ago launched a struggle for freedom, whose

motivational principle was to liberate black people from injustices of

“misrecognition and maldistribution”. However, the existence and increase

of mass poverty is triggering a searing intellectual debate on whether

ultimate freedom has been achieved in Zimbabwe.

The analysis locates some tension in Fraser’s theory of misrecognition and

maldistribution. Consequently, evaluating post-colonial Zimbabwe

injustice should explore the rift between maldistribution and cultural

misrecognition, which contextually does not constitute the full meaning of

injustice. The Zimbabwe narrative indicates that a focus on culture as a

significant form of injustice is inadequate. For instance, it requires an

examination of structural and political factors interacting with what I

would refer to as the Robert Mugabe School of Economics, thus

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Zimbabwe’s approach to the economic system. Furthermore, it should

also explore barriers that prevent human development and prosperity

among millions of Zimbabweans, despite the fact that the Rhodesian

cultural misrecognition has long been eradicated. Furthermore, it beckons

an analysis of the conditions under which a perfectly working economic

system inherited from yesteryear Rhodesia, suddenly grinds to a halt. To

achieve this, it is critical to examine values and morals of those charged

with the socio-economic order of Zimbabwe, be it in times of economic

decline or economic growth which has nothing to do with cultural

misrecognition, but maldistribution. This approach may serve to illuminate

the Zimbabwean poverty narrative, which may reveal a dramatic and

remarkable story.

1.1 Defining poverty

During the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995

organised by the United Nations, up to 117 countries around the world

adopted a declaration and a programme of action that included

commitments to eradicate absolute poverty and reduce overall poverty

(UN, 1995). These countries also came up with a national poverty-

alleviation strategy which they set as a priority, hence the question is

whether Zimbabwe is honouring its international obligations in line with

the agreements of the World Summit for Social Development.

Absolute poverty was defined as:

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a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs,

including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health,

shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but

also on access to services (UN, 1995).

Overall poverty takes various forms, including:

lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable

livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of

access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and

mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe

environments and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also

characterised by lack of participation in decision making and in civil,

social and cultural life. It occurs in all countries: as mass poverty in

many developing countries, pockets of poverty amid wealth in

developed countries, loss of livelihoods as a result of economic

recession, sudden poverty as a result of disaster or conflict, the

poverty of low-wage workers, and the utter destitution of people who

fall outside family support systems, social institutions and safety nets

(UN, 1995).

These definitions were consequently adopted by UNICEF and have been

used as standard measure of poverty in different countries across the

world (Notten & de Neubourg, 2011). The pragmatic implication is that

absolute poverty is lack of one or more basic needs over a period long

enough that it endangers someone’s life. Contrary to relative poverty,

absolute poverty covers vital and biological needs such as food, water,

clothing, basic housing or anything like a decent roof over your head, and

sanitation (World Bank, 2007).

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2. Poverty levels in Zimbabwe

This section makes use of different genres of poverty literature, including

descriptive statistics in trying to explore the extent of the problem in

post-colonial Zimbabwe. The principal aim is to reflect on the current

levels of poverty at a time when injustices of cultural misrecognition were

long uprooted from Zimbabwe’s political economy.

A large base of poverty literature and statistics reflect a sharp increase of

poverty in Zimbabwe, particularly in the 1990s. For instance, Chimhowu,

(2013) notes that the proportion of households living below the food

poverty (absolute poverty) rose to 35 per cent by 1995 from a low of

around 26 percent in 1991, then dramatically rose to 63 per cent by

2003, and to 88 per cent by 2008. These shocking statistics reflect an

unprecedented decline of living standards in Zimbabwe within a short

period of time. They show that the living standards for Zimbabweans has

fallen sharply and more steeply in the 1990s than at any time before

independence.

Furthermore, the UNDP, (2008) states that the Zimbabwe Human Poverty

Index, pegged at 17 percent in 1990, more than doubled in 2006 to 40.9

per cent. Furthermore, the UN’s Human Development Index ranking

which was steadily at 52 in 1990, rose to 108 in 1992, 129 in 1997 and

by 2005 it was ranked at 155 of the 177 countries (UNDP, 2008). These

are also shocking statistics representing collapse and deprivation revealed

through the Human Development Index. The HDI is a composite statistic

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of life expectancy, education, and income indices used to rank countries

into four tiers of human development.

Table 1: Zimbabwe’s HDI trends based on consistent time series data

Life expectancy at birth

Expected years of schooling

Mean years of schooling

GNI per capita (2005 PPP$)

HDI value

1980 59.2 6.5 3.2 0,585 0.367

1985 61.5 11.4 4 0,593 0.426

1990 60.6 10.1 4.5 0,622 0.427

1995 53.1 10.1 5.5 0,582 0.408

2000 44.7 10.1 5.9 0,604 0.376

2005 44 10.1 6.7 0,412 0.352

2010 50 10.1 7.2 0,373 0.374

2011 51.4 10.1 7.2 0,404 0.387

2012 52.7 10.1 7.2 0,424 0.397

Adapted from UNDP (2013)

Table 1 reflects Zimbabwe’s performance in each of the HDI indicators

between 1980 and 2012. It shows that the country’s life expectancy at

birth decreased by 6.5 years, while mean years of schooling increased by

4.0 years and expected years of schooling increased by 3.6 years. Also,

between 1980 and 2012, Zimbabwe’s GNI per capita decreased by about

28 percent.

A study by Alwang et al (2002) supports the claim that poverty in

Zimbabwe increased significantly during the 1990s in all sectors of the

country’s economy. They observe that in mid 1990s, at least 60 percent

of Zimbabwean households fell below the national poverty line. According

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to Alwang et al (2002), at least 1.7 million people countrywide are facing

acute hunger. This claim is also underscored by the state-controlled Press

reports, for example - that villagers in Manama, South of Zimbabwe were

surviving on wild fruits because of lack of food (Chronicle, 2000).

Furthermore, the American National Public Radio (NPR) reports that:

People … in other parts of the country are simply going hungry. Many are

foraging in the bush for wild berries and guavas. It's now the matamba

season, but the round, hard-skinned fruit has to be ripe to be safe to eat.

Experts tell you that in desperation, villagers are picking matamba and

smothering it with donkey or cow dung so that the fruit will ripen rapidly

out in the sun (NPR, 2008 p2).

These are shocking developments, particularly considering that Zimbabwe

has been able to adequately feed its population, and has for many years

also been exporting food (Alwang et al 2002). Furthermore, Zimbabwe

National Statistics Agency (Zimstat, 2013) show that absolute poverty

has increased with the rural average consumption per person per month,

standing at US$4, 70, compared to US$87 for urbanites. Zimstats (2013)

also reveals that poverty directly affects 62% of the country’s population

of 13 million people. While different poverty studies in Zimbabwe may

produce different stats, there is a consensus that the poverty problem in

Zimbabwe has long reached absolute levels.

Perhaps, the severity of poverty in Zimbabwe can at least be understood

from the views of Zimbabwean politicians themselves, who have presided

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over the decline. The Acting Principal Director in the Ministry of Public

Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Sydney Mhishi set out the tone:

Poverty levels have remained high with population below food poverty line

as high as 63 percent. What it means is, generally around 63 percent of

our households in urban and rural areas have an income which cannot

make them purchase sufficient food or are they producing enough food to

take them through the season. As a result, poverty and hunger levels

continue to be high (Mhish, 04/12/2013, Herald).

Mhish’s statement collaborates findings of the ZimStat (2013) study and

raises two important issues that need to be examined. First, it reveals

that more than half of Zimbabwe’s population live below poverty line.

Secondly, that poverty is pervasive in both urban and rural areas, a point

which may clarify the intensity and severity of the poverty problem in

Zimbabwe.

Furthermore, a critical analysis of the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment

Report (2013), backs Mhish’s (2013) claims on poverty levels. The

Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Report estimate that about 2, 2

million Zimbabweans are in need of food aid. This claim collaborates

Mhish (2013), that 63 percent of Zimbabweans cannot purchase sufficient

food for their needs, due to deprivation.

A 2008 United Nations World Food Program survey also found a shocking

deterioration of standards of living in the past year alone. They found that

the proportion of people who had eaten nothing the previous day had

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risen to 12 percent from zero (UNWFP, 2008). They also found that those

who had consumed only one meal had soared to 60 percent from only 13

percent in 2007. In the context of the World Summit for Social

Development in Copenhagen, these statistics reveal the existence of

absolute poverty in Zimbabwe. And, in the context of Mhish (2013), it is

clear that almost 15 years after the UN commitment to eradicating

absolute poverty, Zimbabwe has not been able to meet the UN

obligations.

While this section has highlighted different statistics in the depth of

poverty in Zimbabwe, there is a consensus that poverty levels are

unacceptably high in Zimbabwe. The premise of this consensus is that

something needs to be done which may suggest the application of

alternative policies.

3. Methodology

The study adopted a semi-systematic literature review. This includes

searching for relevant literature and analysing poverty surveys that have

been carried out in Zimbabwe. The approach provided a clear overview of

various poverty assessment studies which included both quantitative

analysis and qualitative studies.

While the study focused on secondary data it also utilised descriptive

statistics to analyse quantitative studies through the assessment of the

poverty line and head counts, and multidimensional approaches such as

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the analysis of the Unsatisfied Basic Needs Index, and the Human

Development Index.

The use of quantitative studies allowed the analyst to explore data based

on large scale data collection efforts designed to produce consistent data

that allow for comparison across Zimbabwe. That way, the analyst was

provided with a clear snapshot of the extent of poverty. Consequently,

the approach may be critical in mapping out targets to eradicate poverty

in terms of allocation of resources.

Qualitative studies were examined to seek an understanding of economic

participation and general perceptions on poverty. Most studies examined

are those that were based on selected representative samples, and site

specific.

The choice of methodology was influenced by the intended use of the

information, thus to understand the extent of absolute poverty in

Zimbabwe.

4. Theoretical Framework

This paper contextualises Nancy Fraser’s theory of cultural misrecognition

and maldistribution in exploring the Zimbabwe poverty problem.

According to Fraser (1995, 1998), there are two primary kinds injustices,

first, there is socioeconomic injustice which is rooted in the political and

economic structure of society. This kind of injustices includes economic

marginalisation, exploitation and deprivation of basic goods. The second

form of injustice propounded by Fraser (1995, 1998) is cultural or

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symbolic rooted in social patterns of representations, interpretation and

communication. While both of these forms of injustice may apply in the

analysis of post-colonial injustices, this paper reflects mainly on

socioeconomic injustice which is propelled by processes of maldistribution

of resources. In the Zimbabwean context, maldistribution maybe linked to

office abuse and political corruption that has characterised the former

British colony since the advent of self-rule. Fraser argues that processes

of maldistribution violate principles of social justice. Furthermore, Fraser

(1997) argues that institutions should be judged by the degree to which

people have participatory parity. She defines participatory parity as

citizens’ ability to participate on a par with others in social life (Fraser,

1997). In Fraser’s viewpoint, justice requires social arrangements that

permit of (adult) members of society to interact with one another as

peers. Fraser’s theoretical approach will be considered in relation to

current levels of poverty and inequalities in Zimbabwe. This will include

an analysis of cultural misrecognition which Fraser (1997) claims is a

source of maldistribution, consequently the main cause of injustice.

5. Critiquing the making of poverty in Zimbabwe

There is growing debate attempting to locate a nexus between democracy

and economic growth (Przeworski, Adam, 2002). This debate serves to

challenge the status quo of Zimbabwe’s democracy, against overwhelming

evidence of socioeconomic deprivation. However, the economic success of

China against persistent reports of gross inequalities defies this claim.

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There have been questions whether it is beneficial to insert politics in the

poverty debate (Harriss, 1999, Herring, 1999). However, this paper takes

a position that politics is deeply implicated in the making of poverty in

Zimbabwe. As the previous sections have demonstrated that the United

Nations World Food Programme and the Zimbabwe Vulnerability

Assessment Report (2013) both agree that at least 2 million

Zimbabweans face starvation, it is inevitable that policy researchers

would challenge politicians and policymakers on causes of deprivation in a

country with such a historic economic success story like Zimbabwe.

There are a number of factors that may have contributed in the creation

of poverty in Zimbabwe, hence to explore these factors it may require a

multidimensional approach focussing on the preservation of political and

economic freedom. For instance, one of the causes of economic decline

and socioeconomic disadvantage may have been the haphazard

expropriation of white farmland under President Mugabe’s rubric of

“Redistribution and Indigenisation”. Under this programme, productive

white farmland was expropriated, clearly without considering

ramifications. The outcome was the gawky destruction of one of Africa’s

finest agro-based economies, marking a turning point in the country’s

ability to feed its own people, let alone to remain a continental

breadbasket. Economists, business leaders and trade unionists have

warned that President Mugabe’s “indigenisation” law would wreck any

chance of attracting foreign investment and strangle the economy’s weak

recovery (Financial Times, 2010, p11). Consequently, it can be argued

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that if the goal of freedom is to liberate society from hunger and

socioeconomic deprivation, clearly freedom is yet to be fully achieved.

To add salt to injury, indigenisation policies introduced by President

Mugabe’s administration have had a profound negative effect on the

economy. For instance, white-owned and foreign-owned businesses have

been forced to cede a 51% stake to black Zimbabweans. This has had a

retrogressive effect to the economy, as it hurts the very processes that

seek to create wealth and employment. The market perceives such

policies as an act of chasing away foreign capital which the country badly

needs to resuscitate its ailing economy and dwindling revenue. These are

some of the few examples that may have contributed to the problem of

poverty and human suffering in postcolonial Zimbabwe. Hence, the

violation of economic and social rights may not be a result of President

Mugabe’s Pan African philosophical position, but a flagrant miscalculation.

5.1 Rhodesia: Zimbabwe’s economic heritage

This section will attempt to explore the status of the Rhodesian economy

which was inherited by the country’s black political dispensation at

independence in 1980. The aim is to provide evidence that the current

rising poverty levels are a result of bad socioeconomic and political

policies adopted in postcolonial Zimbabwe.

While some basic economic data is missing about the economic status of

Rhodesia, there is a consensus that despite being subject to global

sanctions, the economy passed on to the newly independent Zimbabwe

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was a vibrant one. For instance, Muchayi (2013) states that at

independence in 1980 President Mugabe inherited a healthy and vibrant

economy from Rhodesia. As a result of the Rhodesian economic legacy,

Muchayi (2013) notes that Zimbabwe enjoyed gross domestic product

growth rates of 11% in 1980 and 10, 7% in 1981. This was before the

economy slumped to 1, 4% in 1982 and then declined by 4, 2% in 1983

and 1984. However, Muchayi (2013) observes a sharp growth of 9, 3% in

1985 before another heavy retreat to 0, 2% growth in 1986.

Muchayi’s assertions are further developed by Cross (2012) who points

out that when Zimbabwe became a democratic State in 1980, it had gone

through 86 years of various white settler dominated governments. During

this period, Cross (2012) observes that the Rhodesian government had

created a thriving economy without significant overseas aid in which its

currency was worth twice the value of a US dollar, while the entire

population had the second highest per capita income in Africa. By any

standards, this was a significant achievement in terms of economic

management at a time when there were UN sanctions against Rhodesia

following the 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). It is

imperative to consider that at the time when Zimbabwe became

independent in 1980, the country had been a heavily regulated economy

due to sanctions imposed in response to the UDI (Young, 1969). With all

this in mind, there is little doubt that the current black political

dispensation inherited a dynamic, healthy, and most importantly, the

world’s best organised agro-based economy.

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The question is: What then went wrong in the last 30 years of postcolonial

Zimbabwe? Is Zimbabwe a classic example of an incapable black

economic manager?

Evidence show that poverty levels rose significantly under the black

political dispensation (Meier & Rudolf, 2010), a view that serves to

reinvigorate claims that poverty in Zimbabwe is manmade. The rise of

poverty levels suggests that there is something unconventional that is

being done by black administrators of the post-colonial economy. This

view is echoed by the World Bank which argues that poverty is a

consequence of several political, social and economic processes that

interact in ways to make people’s living conditions sub-standard (World

Bank, 2000). It has already been suggested that politics in postcolonial

Zimbabwe have interacted with the economy in an indecorous way that

have triggered a dramatic collapse resulting in mass poverty.

Furthermore, the role of Economic Structural Adjustment Programme

(ESAP) is rarely implicated as a contributory factor in the making of

poverty in Zimbabwe. This paper argues that the analysis of the rise of

poverty in Zimbabwe should not ignore the impact of ESAP on

Zimbabwe’s social economy. The ESAP programme was initiated following

recommendations of the World Bank, among other institutions involved

(Saunders, 1996). While, the newly independent Zimbabwe began by

witnessing an expanding economy, interferences from world governing

bodies such as the World Bank and International Monitoring Fund (IMF)

may have led the Zimbabwean government to embrace the ESAP

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programme. By 1991, ESAP was comprehensively introduced with the

help of the World Bank (African Development Bank, 1997).

Needless to say, the harm caused by ESAP in Zimbabwe’s social economy

is unprecedented and will be examined in detail in this paper. Initially,

ESAP was meant to herald a new era of modernised, competitive, export-

led industrialisation (Saunders, 1996), yet turned out to uproot existing

economic and social infrastructure, leaving many Zimbabweans in dire

need, nose-diving into poverty.

Apart from ESAP, clearly the problem in Zimbabwe is how to cure the

harms caused by poverty which is often understood from the context of

democracy and freedom. The severity of poverty and resulting social

harm extinguishes the self-confidence and feelings of freedom and

independence.

5.1.2 Effects of Poverty in Zimbabwe

Having discussed the levels of poverty in postcolonial Zimbabwe, this

section will explore effects of poverty. The aim is to demonstrate some of

the harms that have resulted from black-on-black injustices in Zimbabwe.

Many studies have shown a link between indicators of poverty and the

risk of mental disorders (PatelI, & Kleinman, 2003). There has been

notable increase of mental health cases particularly in the 1990s at a time

when the Zimbabwe economy began to experience rapid decline. For

instance, Bowden (2013) states that:

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This increase in mental health cases throughout the country, which

individually can range anywhere from mild and increasingly common

depression to high levels of uncontrollable anxiety and borderline manic

episodes likely to be brought on by the likes of post-traumatic stress, is

widely considered to be reflective of the current instability being endured

by many Zimbabweans.

The quote identifies a connection between mental health problems among

Zimbabweans and hardships being experienced. This may be attributed to

the fact that poverty makes society feel insecure and hopeless. For PatelI,

& Kleinman, (2003) factors such as insecurity, hopelessness, rapid social

change and the risks of violence may explain the greater vulnerability of

the poor to common diseases, for example, mental disorders.

The World Bank echoes the relationship between poverty and diseases

(World Bank, 2000). For instance, the World Bank study, named Voices of

the Poor set out to investigate the link between poverty and disease

(World Bank, 2000). The study gathered views of more than 60,000 poor

people across the world. It looked broadly at poverty, its determinants

and consequences, and concluded that health and ill- health are the

central concerns of those who were interviewed (World Bank, 2000).

The results of the 2000 World Bank study carries a meaning when

contextualised from a Zimbabwean perspective. For instance, Zimbabwe

was in 2008 blighted by a cholera outbreak in which over 4 000 people

were estimated to have died (Mbiba, 2013). Cholera is a bacterial

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infection caused by drinking contaminated water or eating food that has

been in contact with contaminated water (USA Government, 2013).

In 2013, David Parirenyatwa, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Health and Child

Care stated that at least 440 children under the age of five died of

diarrhoeal diseases (Mbiba, 2013).

These cases are more prevalent in children aged five years and below

and are a major cause of deaths in that age group. This year alone, over

48 000 cases and 440 deaths from common diarrhoea have been reported

countrywide. The deaths reported have happened in health facilities with

diarrhoea as the cause of death (Mbiba, 27/11/2013).

The minister added:

Dysentery has accounted to date 40 756 cases and 59 deaths while

typhoid cases reported in 2013 were 1 475 (Mbiba, 27/11/2013).

Furthermore, the World Health Organisation has reported that as of 1

December 2008, there was a total of 11 735 cholera cases with 484

deaths since August 2008, affecting all provinces in Zimbabwe (WHO,

2008). However, Mbiba (2008) states that up to 4000 Zimbabweans died

of cholera while WHO (2008) observes a 4% overall fatality rate which

however, rose to 20–30% in remote rural areas.

Out of the total number of cases, 50% have been reported from Budiriro,

a high density suburb of the capital city, Harare. Beitbridge, a town

bordering South Africa, has reported 26% of all cases. In the last two

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days, two additional areas have been affected: Chegutu (in Mashonaland

West province) and Mvuma (in Midlands province) (WHO, 2013).

The section has attempted to identify risk factors of socioeconomic

disadvantage in the context of Zimbabwe. It has attempted to explores

the increase of ill-health, and its connection with poverty in Zimbabwe.

Apart from the relationship between poverty and diseases, it has been

shown that socioeconomic disadvantage produces adverse effects such as

insecurity and hopelessness within society.

6. What caused poverty in Zimbabwe?

This section explores four critical factors that may have led to the

impoverishment of post-colonial Zimbabwe under the stewardship of

President Mugabe. The first claim relates to the embracement of the

World Bank’s Economic Structural Adjustment Programme. The second,

relates to question of economic mismanagement which will include the

looting of Marange Diamonds Mine Field estimated to be the biggest

diamond field to be discovered this century. The third claim relates to the

abolishment of property rights, followed by the legacy of colonialism. The

section begins with an analysis of Zimbabwe’s Economic Structural

Adjustment Programme.

6.1.2 Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP)

Zimbabwe is among several developing countries that adopted ESAP

under the pretext of transforming and developing the country’s economy

following the end of the Rhodesian bush war. Saunders (1996) details

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how Zimbabwe embraced ESAP which may have inadvertently contributed

to the creation of absolute poverty. Saunders (1996) believes that

Zimbabweans deserve apology over ESAP, noting how society was

stripped of many of the state functions such as education and health

services through the economic programme.

Saunders, (1997) blames ESAP in the creation of poverty, arguing that

the World Bank inspired economic reform laid the foundations of biting

poverty. It is noted that while ESAP was introduced in the 1990s, its

adverse consequences are beginning to be seen more now. Kanji (1995

p39) develops this view:

Since the initiation of ESAP, there have been retrenchments in the

agriculture, textile, clothing, leather and construction industries.

Estimates of numbers retrenched since 1991 vary, particularly since

government figures do not include seasonal and casual workers.

From the quote, it can be argued that free market principles that comes

with ESAP allows business to do as they please. They can retrench and

hire as they want, without restrain from government. This may be a

source of social misery because workers are always at risk of being

sacked from work. In many cases, losing a job creates poverty,

considering that many workers are usually bread winners. It may mean

that a child would not be able to pay school fees. No one to put food on

the table. Consequently, absolute poverty is created. According to Kanji

(1995), by the end of 1993 up to 60 000 workers were retrenched from

both public and private sectors. This figure is collaborated by the

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Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Henceforth, by 1995, ESAP reduced

civil service staff by 25 percent (Kanji, 1995).

With all this in mind, it can be argued that the poverty problem in

Zimbabwe was triggered by ESAP which allowed ruthless processes of

economic deregulation. Standing (1991) is critical of an economic

approach such as ESAP, pointing out that as a result of deregulation,

forms of labour security around the world have been eroded and

conditions of work have deteriorated. Standing (1991, p39) states that:

Under ESAP, a system of collective bargaining for wages and conditions

has replaced government intervention in wage-setting except for farm

workers and domestic workers. Wage rises, however, have been

completely eroded by inflation.

The quote reflects how living standards of workers who remained

employed were eroded through less powers in bargaining for wages and

other working conditions. This represents a serious depletion of workers’

rights to protect themselves against unscrupulous employers. It reflects

the vagaries of the processes of ESAP. Henceforth, it can be argued that

ESAP imposes harsh economic measures in countries where it has been

implemented. It deepens poverty and undermine social security resulting

in unsustainable means of life and suffering.

6.1.3 Mismanagement Vs Property Rights

The economic mismanagement claim may be another key factor in trying

to understand what caused mass poverty in Zimbabwe. Economic

mismanagement is perhaps the most conceivable cause of Zimbabwe’s

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economic decline. It is also linked to market responses to the disregard of

property rights by the Zimbabwe government when it ignored the

“violent” invasion of white farmland by black veterans of the liberation

struggle.

The abolishment of property rights characterised the controversial land

reform programme, and may have been a major cause of poverty

creation in Zimbabwe. The NSSA Report (2013) reveals that Zimbabwe’s

agricultural sector has been struggling to recover from the impact of the

land reform programme, which may have violated property rights and

disrupted land ownership and tenure. The argument is that through a

haphazard land reform programme, President Mugabe’s government

developed economic policies that undermined the principle of private

property. The principle of private property is critical to economic

development, hence any violation could mean economic backslide.

Up to this day, there is a persistent view that President Mugabe used

white farmland as weapon against the opposition in his quest to hang on

to power, hence his government abolished property rights to pave way for

invasion of white farms. This view is shared by Cross (2012) who argues

that:

The problem was that the new regime destroyed property rights in their

efforts to perpetuate their hold on the State and maintain their privileges

and patronage rights (Cross, 2012.p4).

Consequently, the abolishment of property rights was a harbinger for

economic mismanagement, hence the two should be viewed in one genre

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of analysis. For instance, O'Driscoll & Hoskins (2003) argue that

prosperity and property rights are inextricably linked. They point out that

processes of weighing costs and benefits produces what economists call

efficient outcomes, which translates into higher standards of living for all.

Hence, the low standard of living currently being experienced by most of

Zimbabweans is linked to an incompetent black economic manager who

unwittingly failed to identify the link between economic growth and

property rights.

For, it is the abolishment of property rights, coupled with economic

mismanagement that set the trigger, inflamed the decline in welfare, and

caused avoidable deaths such as the 4 000 who died of cholera.

Furthermore, Zimbabwe’s processes of economic mismanagement, linked

to the abolishment of property rights has also led to lack of investment in

human capital. No wonder why the National Social Security Authority

Report (2013) states that the period between July 2011 to July 2013

shows that 711 companies in Harare closed down, rendering 8 336

individuals jobless. Major companies that were retrenching included

Platinum Miners, Zimplats and Unki, Bindura Nickel, Spar supermarkets,

Dairibord, Cairns, Olivine Industries and PG Industries. This section has

attempted to demonstrate an existing link between the abolishment of

property rights and rise of poverty.

6.1.4 Missing diamonds

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Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields are estimated to be one of the

world's richest diamond deposits' this century (Stockhouse, 2013).

However, production from Marange is controversial due to missing

revenues realised from the sell of the diamonds. What should have been

an opportunity for redemption for a country that is sinking into poverty

and bankruptcy after years of chaos that saw world record inflation, the

discovery of Marange Diamonds in eastern Zimbabwe are turning out to

be a further curse for the embattled former British colony.

Greed, corruption and exploitation on a grand scale including the use of

forced labour, both adults and children – horrifying human rights abuses,

brutal killings, degradation of the environment and the massive

enrichment of a select few (Sokwanele, 2011, p2).

Stockhouse.com is the global hub for investors to find relevant financial

news, access expert analysis and opinion and share knowledge and

information with each other.

According to the global hub for investors, Stockhouse (2013) despite

being an impoverished country:

… some in Zimbabweans are awash in money, judging by the Mercedes-

Benzes parked at a country club and the private woodland estate with

artificial lake and mansion built by the nation's police chief.

Stockhouse (2013) observes that the wealth of the country is enjoyed by

just a few, at least in part, from the vast Marange diamond field that was

exposed by an earth tremor in 2006. Stockhouse (2013) states that the

26

eastern Zimbabwean diamonds fields are the biggest ever found in Africa

for a century, worth billions of dollars.

Furthermore, a 2013 bipartisan parliamentary investigation concluded

that tens of millions of dollars in diamond earnings are missing from 2012

alone. The report highlights corruption, bribery of senior officials,

smuggling and so on.

President Mugabe himself has bemoaned corruption, in particular when he

publicly accused one of his top mining officials of accepting a $6 million

bribe from Ghanaian investors to obtain diamond mining rights in

Marange (Mugabe Parliamentary Speech, 2013).

However, the discovery of diamonds in Zimbabwe should have been a

step forward towards efforts to address absolute poverty in Zimbabwe.

6.1.5 Colonialism

The question of colonial imprint remains heavily implicated in the

Zimbabwean poverty story. However, colonialism and its legacy may not

be the central problem, but remains a contributing factor.

The dehumanizing of the colonised black Africans had an intergenerational

negative impact on black peoples. This was fostered by the colonisers’

successful attempt to mischaracterise colonised races as biologically

inferior, and in some cases there were “screwed up” scientific proof as

evidence.

27

The issue of racial prejudice may have created deep seated anger among

black Africans, including other colonised societies, be it in Asia. Gould,

(1996) shares this view, arguing that the subsequent biological

justification of “inferior” blacks imposed an additional burden of intrinsic

inferiority upon despised groups.

The view being propounded is that colonialism was inherently racist, and

sort to destroy the humanity within the colonised groups. It sort to

destroy the existing social structures replacing them with the racist

structures which were designed to prevent colonised groups from

succeeding as fully paid up members of the human race.

However, the problem arises when those countries that were not

colonized, such as Thailand appear to be no better off than Malaysia or

Singapore next door (Kristof, 2010). Furthermore, Kristof, (2010)

observes that Liberia which was not formally colonised appear to be in the

same league of problems with neighbouring Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.

Another example is Ethiopia which was not entirely colonised yet the

country is not better than other wholly colonised African countries.

7. Redress policies

This section will explore potential means in which Zimbabwe could

address the problem of absolute poverty. The section considers two

important transformative models, thus the growth-centred model and the

redistributive developmental model.

28

The thought of transformative remedies contra to affirmative remedies

makes more logic for the Zimbabwean story of injustice. Poverty is a

multidimensional phenomenon that requires a wide range of solutions for

a wide range of problems (Gordon et al, 2004). This view clarifies the

transformative remedies two-model approach proposed in this analysis

which is merely a reflection of the scale of the Zimbabwean problem.

A growth-centred’ model, as propounded by Srinivasan (1992), could be a

useful approach for social transformation and revival of the Zimbabwean

economy. Contextually, through the growth-centred model, policymakers

may be able to identify processes that could underpin more effective

policies for reducing poverty.

Fakir (2007) asserts that, in countries with high levels of inequality, the

state has no option, but to embark on a developmental agenda. Fakir

observes that unequal countries trying to address the inequalities must

concede to their underdeveloped constituencies, or risk social instability.

The second model is the developmental state model propounded by

Polanyi (1946). He argues that the approach represents a progressive

state focussing on the role of the economy. In this case the economic

imperative is less important than social and political objectives.

Mkandawire (2001) identifies three key attributes of a developmental

state. First, it has an ideological hegemony, and Mkandawire (2001),

observes that this helps the state’s ideas to predominate. Second,

Mkandawire (2001), argues that a developmental state must have the

29

technical, administrative, institutional and political capacity and power to

implement its economic policies. In the Zimbabwean context, this could

help address corruption that has become endemic in the government. It

may also help in identifying technical expertise required for the country to

be able to deal with mass poverty while creating effective state and

private institutions that are focussed on dealing with poverty.

For these transformative models to function effectively, there must be

autonomy by those charged with the task of restructuring the status quo.

The idea is to afford them to act in the best interests of its citizens

without being constrained, consequently this could mean cracking down

on corruption and putting in place structures that seek to redress absolute

poverty. These may include introducing minimum wage, protective labour

laws, grants for children and those over 65 including a job seekers

allowance.

The two transformative models are imperative for Zimbabwe, thus to

redistribute income and wealth, and to increase the government’s

revenues, to enable the country deal with the backlog of development

such as building schools and clinics including financing state institutions

such as the health delivery system.

8. Conclusion

This paper has attempted to explore forces of injustices that have created

poverty in postcolonial Zimbabwe. The notion of absolute poverty in

Zimbabwe includes a variety of burning issues contributing to the poverty

30

problem. Most of these issues cause considerable suffering to

Zimbabwean citizens.

The study has demonstrated that a large proportion of the population may

score highly on the scale of personal hardships. For instance, the paper

has identified a direct link between Zimbabwe government’s

expropriations of commercial farmlands with absolute poverty currently

being experienced in Zimbabwe. It is the controversial expropriation of

white farmland that has relegated Zimbabwe to so utterly dependent on

aid from “white European States”, the country purports to so loathe.

Supporters of the Zimbabwe government may argue that sanctions were

the main cause of the absolute poverty. However, this view is problematic

in the sense that the interconnectedness of the world through processes

of globalisation reject the hostile economic environment resulting from

the government’s violent land reforms and disregard of property rights. In

a modern market economy, market forces spontaneously react against

countries where there is no rule of law. Furthermore, conventional

wisdom has taught us that market reactions produce goods scarcity and

devaluation of national currencies which is basis of mass poverty.

Henceforth, it can be asserted that eradicating poverty in Zimbabwe is an

achievable goal, but corruption and lack of political will is hindering

meaningful efforts to end it. With all this in mind, maldistribution of basic

resources in Zimbabwe is generated by black-on-black postcolonial forms

injustices. This takes many forms such bad governance, tyranny and

corrupt rule.

31

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