JUST IN: Zim descendants of beheaded Chimurenga heroes and heroines pressurise British government to bring back bones and artefacts.
PRETORIA – The British government is being haunted by the ghosts of beheaded Chimurenga 1 heroes and heroines as descendants of the affected people are this Friday picketing at the British High Commission in Pretoria, News of the South has learnt.
The conveners of the demonstration revealed that they submitted a petition at the British High Commission in Pretoria on November 4th demanding the repatriation of bones of the beheaded chiefs, heroes and heroines of the 1896-7 Chimurenga 1.
News of the South talked to one of the event organisers Vusi Nyamazana who said, they are applying pressure for the immediate return of the remains and artefacts looted by the British settlers and are now allegedly kept in British museums in London.
The peaceful demonstration is scheduled to start at 10am and end at 1pm.
Nyamazana said: “We submitted our petition on the 4th of November and we gave them seven working days to give us a response on the status of repatriation efforts. They did not respond and we are going on a protest to elicit a response and to exert pressure on the British government.
He added: “The protest will also expose the injustice that the Zimbabwean nation faces with respect to several chiefs whose artefacts and remains are in museum storage boxes. The Zimbabwean story has not been talked about when other countries are mentioned on appropriations done during the 19th century.”
African heroines and heroes of the First Chimurenga who were brutally murdered and have remains believed to be in London include Charwe NeHanda Nyakasikana, Chiefs Mutekedza, Mashayamombe, Mapondera and Mashonganyika.
“Britain has a moral obligation to undo its historical wrongs. Their Museums Act has provisions of ‘non-returnism’ except in reasonable circumstances. This strict law was made less rigid by the enactment of the Human Tissue Act of 2004, which called for human remains ‘to be treated with appropriate respect and dignity’. This act has been used by claimants and the museums to surrender remains to other countries ie Torres Strait Islander and South Australia,” Nyamazana said.
He added that African communities and families have the right to get those remains from the British government so that proper funeral and burial rites are done according to culture.
According to the convener, efforts started in the 1990’s by individual families, notably the Makoni people to try recover their chief’s remains. In August 2015 the late president Mugabe raised the issue and Britain denied it had the remains.
The issue has since 2015 been handled by the National Monuments and Museums of Zimbabwe which has constituted a Repatriation Committee with Chiefs after pressure from Zimbabweans in the UK.
“Nothing concrete has been achieved. Therefore, this campaign intends to bring pressure to bear on UK & also our government so that they make consented efforts to resolve this matter,” Nyamazana said.
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