Records And Archives Management In Postcolonial Zimbabwe’s Public Service

ABSTRACT

Good recordkeeping systems are reported to have existed in the colonial period, while general crisis situations have been reported in many postcolonial African nations, including Zimbabwe. The main concern of this study was why this seemingly success factor in colonial recordkeeping failed to continue in postcolonial Africa, including Zimbabwe, as reported in various studies. In light of these insights, this study therefore sought to conduct an investigation of the status of records and archives management in postcolonial Zimbabwe so as to have in-depth explanations on its postcolonial recordkeeping experiences. The study took a colonial-postcolonial dimension in an effort to gain in-depth explanations on the strengths or weaknesses of current recordkeeping practices; and to find out if the situation regarding recordkeeping, as observed in other countries, is applicable to the Zimbabwean context. This case study on Zimbabwe, carried out within an interpretivist paradigm, employed qualitative data collection methods of interviews, observations and documents search. This was in order to gain in-depth insights into the state of records and archives management in the Public Service of Zimbabwe; which constituted the population of the study. The total targeted sample was 76 interviewees distributed as follows: three persons from each of the 24 Ministries comprising the Permanent Secretary, the Records Supervisor, and one Action Officer; three from the National Archives of Zimbabwe comprising the Director, Head of Records Management section and Head of Public Archives section; and one key person from the Ministry of Information & Communication Technology, Postal & Courier Services (MICTPCS) responsible for ICT issues in the Public Service of Zimbabwe. Observations were made on recordkeeping facilities at the registries within the Ministries. In addition, an assessment of related recordkeeping documents was also carried out.