Selected Songs by Simon Chimbetu: A Decolonial Analysis

Using decolonial theory, this article analyses four of Simon Chimbetu’s songs: Ndarangarira Gamba, Pane Asipo, Vana Vaye and Zuva Raenda. Notwithstanding the artist’s obvious support for the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), these four songs criticise the party and its leadership. Foregrounded in this criticism is the failure to attend to needs and aspirations such as access to land; the lack of appreciation of the role played by both fallen and surviving war veterans; failure to create meaningful employment opportunities; and the inability to create conditions for a better life for all Zimbabweans than during colonialism. Chimbetu’s criticism of ZANU-PF resonates with one of the goals of decoloniality, that is, previously colonised people’s acquisition of the necessary agency to embrace new context-relevant ways of doing and being. Among other recommendations, I suggest that, as Zimbabwe continues to grapple with myriad political, economic and social problems, Chimbetu remains a national voice of conscience whose message, if critically listened to, could contribute to a different leadership and, by extension, socio-economic trajectory for the country.