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Tendai Mudzimu
The fact that our ancestors were murdered by the colonialist for resisting the occupation of this land is not in dispute.
These suave-brained men and women fought in the First Chimurenga in a bid to revolt against colonial rule and fight for our beloved Zimbabwe.
The history of our country being colonised is known and told either orally or written.
Over the years the nation has been told about some heads of our ancestors being kept in some museum in London, as trophies.
Now it’s time we have them returned and accord them a decent burial according, to our African tradition.
The issue of our murdered ancestors was rekindled by an article published in our local dailies and at some point was discussed in Parliament when the statue of Mbuya Charwe Nehanda Nyakasikana was erected at the intersection of two major roads in the capital.
The erection of the statue got me thinking and on the 24th of December 2021, I had a discussion with a revered spirit medium and the discussion left me with many questions that needed to be answered, hence my question what is our real story?
I subsequently made an effort to search for the names of those who are said to be in the British museums and the stories surrounding their deaths and if indeed their heads are in London.
Out of the 26 names that are being flaunted, only five appeared to be in London and the official list that is with the Home Affairs has 13 and still five appears to be coming out, so who are the others?
Could there be other warriors whose names are not being talked about or are not known.
I have a host of questions that are lingering in my mind.
Have we consulted the families of those whose names are circulating in most written work to ascertain the true story surrounding the death and burials?
Have we exhausted all the information in our archives be they those from Police records or Justice records or any other?
A Press Statement on the British Museums quoted by Daily Marverick said:“We have the remains of 11 individuals from Zimbabwe, but after extensive research have found no evidence to suggest that they are the remains of Mbuya Nehanda or others associated with the first Chimurenga.
“We have shared all information we have with the authorities in Zimbabwe and are continuing discussions with the Zimbabwean government to discuss the repatriation of the remains we do hold.” This can be a pointer that we should do our possible scenarios which need to be explored to buttress my notion that those remains maybe somewhere in this country as Professor Timothy Stapleton of Trent University in Ontario, Canada, who said “ I don’t know of any evidence that the heads of the spirit mediums Nehanda and Kaguvi were taken after they were hanged in 1898”
I don’t think any of the serious historical works on the 1896-97 rebellion, included anything about that.
This assertion seems to find resonance in Dr Mahachi’s statement, when he says: “We have these gaps in our history that we have difficulty filling in. We have looked in a few places, but we haven’t come across records that point to a general area.”
If Government was to work with the medium, I had a discussion with those gaps will be filled and the puzzle will be solved. I have used long quotations in this article to buttress my notion that let’s cleanse our house first before we look for our ancestors’ remains in foreign lands
In our tradition, we know about the spirit mediums. Are there any manifestations of the murdered ancestors? If yes, what are they saying.
Are we approaching this issue in our modern way, scientific or traditionally? In this country we are blessed for we have a story of an ancestor who manifested and showed his family where he sank and died before Great Zimbabwe was built and some artefacts were recovered. This could be a starting point to tell our real story.
My hunch tells me that there is a story behind the story. Not all the names that have been tossed around have their heads in London.
This could be a shocker but, that’s a possible reality that we need to interrogate as a nation through our Home Affairs ministry.
It is difficult if not “unthinkable” to deconstruct a narrative that has been around for decades but it’s a necessary evil and our history will be put in a correct perspective, shaming the colonial masters who did not even have a heart. They did not even allow the natives to properly mourn their dead.
A thorough research on the circumstances surrounding the death and burial will be a good starting point before we formally engage the British government for the “trophies” if we don’t want to be embarrassed as a nation by presenting documents that are fraught with errors.
What will happen if DNA samples taken from assumed relatives of our ancestors do not match samples taken from the “rophies”kept in the British Museums. I am using the word trophies with disdain.
Let us imagine possible scenarios, that some of our ancestors were buried secretly by their relatives, while some were buried in separate graves by the white colonial masters, while some were left to die in the bush and eaten by wild animals, while other were decapitated and bodies cremated and the heads buried elsewhere.
There are a number of possible scenarios hence the need to exhaust all possibilities. As a nation we must implore our government to allow “Kuti mumba mumbotsvairwa” so that we present a claim that is without inconsistencies.
The findings of the investigations can actually strengthen our claim. It is important for the nation “kutanga yatsvaira mumba mayo” before we go to foreign lands. The outcome of the investigation will buttress our claims and help us to create an authentic list that we will use to claim our ancestors.
Cde Tendai Mudzimu is a war veteran, researcher, historian and traditionalist. Here, he writes in his personal capacity.
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