The role of music in the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe: a case study of Matabeland region which was under the control of the ZIPRA forces

Abstract

The study was on the role of music in the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe, and Matabeleland region in particular. The main focus of the study was to examine how liberation music in Matabeleland region provided an outlet for their anguish and bitterness about the insensitive colonial system. The use of liberation songs in the decolonization process in Zimbabwe depicted music as a bludgeon which was dedicated to express the people's experiences under a colonial system which had proved to be insensitive to the people’s needs. The liberation songs emerged in Matabeleland area in the decolonization process, as a way to cope with the new challenges within the imposed brutal colonial government and also as a way to clearly exhibit their remonstration against it. In a bid to acquire relative information, the researcher used the descriptive method involving questionnaires and interviews. In the study fifteen ZIPRA ex-combatant and twelve former members of the ZAPU part participated. The questionnaires were personally administered by the researcher and the interviews were conducted using face to face method. The study revealed that one of the challenges was that the loose of memory and the concept of downplaying the role of music which have resulted in great loose of palatable history of Matabeleland and Zimbabwe at large about the decolonization process. It was also revealed that there was shortage of the information about the history of the decolonization process in Matabeleland, especially the contribution of the ZIPRA forces I particular. The research study recommends that future researchers should also trick the history of the Ndebele people and the contribution of the ZIPRA forces in the decolonization process in a bid together a reliable history of Zimbabwe.