admin
Trust Freddy, Herald Correspondent
Skulls of Zimbabwean heroes taken to Britain during the colonial era must be returned, British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Peter Vowles said yesterday.
After paying a courtesy call on Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe at his offices, the Ambassador said they discussed several issues, with a key focus on the repatriation of human remains and cooperation in immigration.
Ambassador Vowles said the British Government was prepared to do anything to facilitate the repatriation of the skulls.
RELATED STORIES
“We are prepared to do everything we can to make sure that we can facilitate the return to the families and put that issue to rest.
“I should just say on the human remains, this is something quite important for the UK Government. This is part of us being more respectful, recognising some of the difficulties of our colonial past and wanting to address those challenges.”
Minister Kazembe said: “We are glad that they have pledged to work with us to ensure the remains that are in the UK come back. We are happy that so far we are having good cooperation with the British Government and we are working very well towards ensuring that those remains are repatriated.”
Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe (right) and the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Peter Vowles speaks to the media at their meeting at ministry of Home Affairs in Harare yesterday. Picture: Tanyanyiwa Tanyanyiwa
Minister Kazembe said the repatriation process was going according to plan.
In doing a search of its archive, London’s Natural History Museum did uncover 11 remains “that appear to be originally from Zimbabwe” – but its records do not connect them with Nehanda, Zimbabwe’s spirit medium.
These include three skulls taken in 1893, thought to be from Zimbabwe’s second city, Bulawayo, as well as remains uncovered in mineshafts and archaeological digs and later donated.
The meeting, however, also focused on other areas of cooperation with the two exploring ways of cooperation in terms of policing.
“With regards to policing, we are working with a few companies in the UK to see where we can work together in terms of technology development to improve our policing,” Minister Kazembe added.
Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe (right) meets with the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Peter Vowles at ministry of Home Affairs in Harare yesterday. Picture: Tanyanyiwa Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter