By HRH Princess Eugene Majuru, Princess of Harare
HARARE ( News of The South) – A spiritual and cultural debate is intensifying in Harare, with a former liberation fighter raising serious questions about the spiritual legitimacy of two of Zimbabwe’s most significant national sites: the National Heroes’ Acre and the recently erected Mbuya Nehanda statue.
While the nation celebrates these monuments as symbols of liberation and national identity, a growing chorus of voices, particularly from the Mbari clan, claims that a fundamental cultural and spiritual misstep has occurred, with potentially severe consequences for the country.
The anonymous former liberation fighter, in an interview, detailed the traditional spiritual practices that were integral to the war for independence. He explained the process of “kupira,” where liberation fighters would perform rituals to seek permission and protection from the ancestral spirits of the land. He recounted his own experiences operating in areas like Njanja and Hwedza, emphasizing that to proceed without the blessings of the land’s traditional owners was to invite certain defeat.
This spiritual protocol, he argues, was completely ignored in the establishment of the National Heroes’ Acre. While acknowledging that the government did consult with “masvikiro” (spirit mediums) and others who participated in the war, he asserts that these were “outsiders” who held no sway over the land on which the shrine was built. According to him, the spiritual custodians of that land are the Mbari clan of the Shumba Gurundoro totem, and their involvement was not sought.
This oversight is a major cultural mistake, and while it’s easy for the state to dismiss these concerns, the spiritual realm cannot be defeated by the physical. The “forefathers” of the Mbari clan are now in spiritual motion at the Heroes’ Acre, questioning the fallen heroes buried there and challenging their presence without due permission. While the heroes buried there represent the whole country, the ongoing spiritual turmoil is a direct result of a failure to respect the ancestral land owners of Harare.
The complexity of this spiritual battle is compounded by the issue of land. The Mbari clan, who historically owned vast tracts of what is now modern-day Harare, are said to be angered by the continued sale and appropriation of their ancestral land without any consideration for their descendants. High-profile land acquisitions by figures such as Philip Chiyangwa and the Mugabe family, as well as the development of areas like Mount Hampden and the Mazowe smart city, are cited as examples of this oversite. I am a direct descendant of the Mbari clan and I cannot stop to stress that this systemic land dispossession has fueled the spiritual unrest, with the Mbari forefathers now in a state of agitation.
This spiritual dispute extends to the controversy surrounding the Mbuya Nehanda statue in Harare’s central business district. As Princess of Harae I have weighed in on the matter, and can correctly state that the government’s erection of the statue was another grave error. Nehanda was a spirit, not a human, and no one knows what a spirit looked like or looks like. The government,, went ahead with the project without consulting the rightful custodians of the land, the Mbari clan.
My warnings were ignored before the ceremony, and the government instead brought in chiefs from outside the Mbari’s jurisdiction to perform the rituals, which I can and am right fully dismissing as “child’s play.” The true and spiritually significant traditions, were not followed. This, according to what is happening in this period as I write has set the stage for further spiritual repercussions for the nation.
The former freedom fighter as also asserted that these spiritual conflicts are a ticking time bomb. According to communication underground Zimbabwe can soon see the consequences of fighting “physical humans with spirituality,” a battle the physical cannot win. For now, the situation is “food for thought,” but the ongoing spiritual battles at both the Heroes’ Acre and the Nehanda statue are far from over.
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