The Zimbabwean indigenization policy: a decolonial perspective on Community Share Ownership Trusts from 2008 – 2019

Abstract

The thesis explores the indigenization policy in Zimbabwe as a decolonial strategy. It provides a decolonial interpretation, whereby it sheds more light on what is meant when one says a country has gained independence. This thesis has managed to demonstrate that Zimbabwe‘s independence is not complete without economic freedom. The Decoloniality Theory has been adopted in this thesis as the theoretical framework upon which this thesis hinges. The theoretical framework is suitable for examining this policy because it has helped in displaying that indigenization has its inadequacies as a public policy. The policy has perpetuated neoliberalism. The discovery made is that the agency only has changed but the structure, terms and content of the administration did not change. In order to effectively explain the indigenization policy, from a decolonial perspective; the thesis has examined the definition of indigenization that has been put forward by the policy. The problematic issue becomes the question of the indigenous Zimbabweans .Who are these, how did they originate, and the various ways in which they were marginalized during the colonial era? This thesis has brought forward issues that were overlooked by policy implementers. So, it is an important lesson for post-colonial Zimbabweans to implement policies that out rightly do away with colonial terms and expressions.