Chitando, “If My People...” A Critical Analysis of the Deployment of 2 Chron 7:14 ...ploying 2 Chron 7:14 during the Zimbabwean crisis. Towards the con-
clusion, I focus on how the exercise undertaken herein has implications
for the Africanization of biblical studies agenda.
“Do not Hide your Face, Lord!”
An Overview of the Zimbabwean Crisis
In order to appreciate the popularity of 2 Chron 7:14, it is important to
provide a historical overview of the Zimbabwean crisis. Zimbabwe’s
armed struggle in the 1970s captured popular imagination, especially in
the global South. Here were black people who decided to challenge racial
oppression and to fight for their liberation and dignity. Bob Marley, an
international music icon, identified with the liberation struggle and
dedicated the song, “Zimbabwe” to this heroic effort. When finally the
country attained independence on 18 April 1980, there was a lot of ex-
citement. Bob Marley performed at the celebrations and the future
looked bright as Robert Mugabe, one of the leaders of the Patriotic Front
that had led the struggle, proclaimed a policy of national reconciliation.
Apart from the massacres in the Midlands and Matabeleland provinces,
Zimbabwe’s first decade of independence was full of promise. Mugabe’s
government invested heavily in education, health and other social ser-
vices. This was strategic as blacks had been marginalised in the country
during the years of racial segregation. Although Mugabe was keen to
promote a “one-party state,” this was resisted by the citizens. Generally,
there was the feeling that the fruits of independence were being tasted
by the majority. At the same time, Zimbabwe played a key role in the
region, isolating apartheid-ruled South Africa and South West Africa
(Namibia). Zimbabwe enjoyed food security and could afford to export
maize. Mugabe was feted in Western capitals for his achievements.
In the early 1990s, the government introduced the Economic Structural
Adjustment Programme (ESAP) at the behest of the International Mone-
tary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The idea was to cut on govern-
ment spending and to stimulate economic growth. However, as was the
case elsewhere on the continent, the results were painful. Many workers
were retrenched and the number of the working poor increased. By the
mid to late 1990s, the seeds to discontent had been sown. Prices of basic
commodities increased and there was general frustration. The Zim-
babwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), became more confronta-