[6] Following Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the British Empire, the new Rhodesian authorities started to crack down on African liberation movements.
[9][10] At the Zimbabwean independence ceremony, the Union Jack was lowered to "God Save the Queen" and the new flag of Zimbabwe was raised to "Ishe Komborera Africa" in Salisbury.
[11] In 1994, it was deemed that Zimbabwe should change its national anthem to avoid similarities with other countries who used the tune of "Ishe Kombererra Africa".
However, there was scepticism from Christians about the need for replacing "Ishe Komborera Africa" with the belief that it was part of a plan by ZANU-PF to remove references to God from Zimbabwe's official proceedings.
The act also made it a criminal offence to insult the new national anthem and also granted the President of Zimbabwe the right to make regulations controlling its use and how it was to be sung.
[17] Later in the year, the same situation occurred at the African Athletics Championships in the Republic of the Congo when the Zimbabwean men's relay team won gold.
The Zimbabwean team insisted the correct national anthem be played; however, as the band were unable to perform it, Lloyd Zvasiya sang it himself through a microphone.