By HRH Princess Eugene Majuru.
Zimbabwe woke up one day to the news that they now had a King Munhumutapa something they have never dreamed would happen, this news was welcomed by many who value and appreciate Zimbabwe`s rich history while others were a bit skeptical about it and raised many unanswered questions. Timothy Chiminya announced to that nation of Zimbabwe that he was now the King Munhumutapa, he was not taken seriously until he had to submit a court application. He declared that a court ruling in September 2022 unified all Zimbabwean Chiefs to be under his authority. Chiminya is currently not being paid by the Zimbabwean government who are said to be owing him some money which he has since demanded for. He also demanded that all traditional Chiefs in Zimbabwe should cooperate with him.
King Chiminya Munhumutapa wrote a letter to Zimbabwean President of chiefs, Chief Mtshana Khumalo on August 15, 2024, Chiminya said the ruling stated that all chiefs, headmen, and sabhukus must be accredited by King Munhumutapa, who will have the final say in matters related to traditional leadership. Chiminya stated that the Ministry of local government had failed to recognise him and failed to submit evidence as to why he could not be King Munhumutapa this resulted in the court ruling in his favour. At the timer of writing King Munhumutapa has not yet had his corornation, the Kings coronation should be a national event which is fully financed by the state and public in attendance.
Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe disowned Chiminya in May, saying he was an impostor since the Constitution had no provision for a monarch.
“The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works would like to dissociate itself from the claim by one Timothy Chiminya Mujuru who is masquerading as King Munhumutapa.
“The ministry would like to advise the public that the Zimbabwean Constitution does not have a provision for kingship; hence his claim is unconstitutional and therefore a nullity,” Garwe said in a statement.
Chiminya has however argued that Zanu PF acknowledged him as King Munhumutapa by using him to perform rituals for the ruling party. At the moment Zimbabweans are questiong what really is going on and what happens next.
King Munhumutapa is the title given to the King of Kings in the ancient Kingdom of Mutapa. King Munhumutapa was also known as Mwenemutapa, the Kingdom of Mutapa existed in what is now modern-day Zimbabwe and extended to parts of Mozambique. Munhumutapa ruled in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia, Malawi and Botswana. In Shona: Mwene (or Munhu) we Mutapa, Portuguese: Monomotapa.
The Portuguese term Monomotapa is a transliteration of the Shona royal title Mwenemutapa or Munhumutapa derived from a combination of two words Mwene or Munhu meaning Man, and Mutapa which means conqueror. Over time the monarch’s royal title was applied to the kingdom as a whole, and used to denote the kingdom’s territory on maps from the period.
Now that Zimbabwe has a King Munhumutapa it naturally means he is king of the various countries that fall under Munhumutapa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Botswana and South Africa. This therefore means all these countries should be paying King Munhumutapa . In our Zimbabwean culture and tradition we know that a King or Chief is appointed or chosen spiritually. So King King Munhumutapa needs to inform Zimbabweans how he came to be appointed Munhumutapa,, he is also supposed to be telling the various spirits in Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia, Malawi and Botswana. He is supposed to be summoning all of them and informing them that he is back. The above listed countries have Chiefs who should all be paying their allegiance to Munhumutapa just like in the olden days.
King Munhumutapa is supposed to prove his comeback by showing his spiritual powers and so people can really see the King is back, people should be able to see things they have never seen before, things which will shock them so they can all agree that King Munhuumutapa is back. We have all seen how Zimbabwe has had more than 150 people coming forward claiming they are Mbuyanehanda, these have all however failed to display their spiritual ability like the Mbuya Nehanda`s we all know. In The case of Timothy Chiminya anyone else can come forward claiming to be King Munhumutapa, I am sure we will begin to see more people claiming to be Munhumutapa and all these will want to claim this title for their own benefits just like the fake Mbuya Nehanda`s.
All spirits or spirit mediums in the provinces which form Mutapa empire should prove pand approve he is Munhumutapa, the ibterestibg question now is where are the spirits and what are they saying? Has King Munhumutapa communicated with them? Chiminya is currently limiting hinself by being King Munhumutapa of Zimbabqe only yet the empire is made up of provinces Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.If he is the real Munhumutapa all the Kings from the listed countries should be under him, that way he has a voice and earns the respect that he deserves. In the Rozvi Kingdom Kings paid taxes to Munhumutapa, Munhumutapa was not a spirit by a title. At this point Munhumutapa should tell Zimbabweans who are the other kings from the provinces who are under him.
With all due respect I have not said Timothy Chiminya is not King Munhumutapa, all Chiminya needs to be is prove he is King Munhumutapa, he needs to do much more, people need to see the signs so they can believe. A few months ago in Zimbabwe we saw some man on video claiming to be Chaminuka, the man was misinformed about the history of Chaminuka. Chaminuka was a spirit of mhondoro, he was one of the leading Mhondoro spirits of Zimbabwe in the 19th century. He played a very imporstant roke in the First Chimurenga of 1896 1897.
In March 2007, Cabinet Ministers briefed then-president Robert Mugabe about a spiritual healer who could make rocks ooze diesel. Mugabe and many others believed this story and went to appease the spiritual healer, Rotina Mavhunga, at her shrine in Chinhoyi, a town 115km east of Harare. Mavhunga was given R7.8 million in local money, a house and a car, she demonstrated her con in front of a high-powered delegation which later turned out to be a scam.
The first “Mutapa” was a warrior prince named Nyatsimba Mutota from the Kingdom of Zimbabwe who expanded the reach of the kingdom initially to discover new sources of salt in the north. Below is the list of King Munhumutapa1s and the periods they ruled. Timothy Chiminya needs to explain which spirits chose him and how he was chosen to be the next Munhumutapa, this is very important so that Zimbabweans save the embarrassment. Chiminya should also be able to give an account of the last Munhumutapa and what happened to the last Munhumutapa and all the history that comes with it.
Evidence from history has proven that by the 1590s, Monomutapa had begun a cultural, political and military decline intensified by increasingly various civil wars which further weakened them. When this was all happening provincial governors were able to gain more power. The political leaders of one province, Changamire, broke free and began building a successor state to Monomutapa. The Portuguese colony along the coast gained more power at the expense of Monomutapa. By the 1630s, the Portuguese overran all of Monomutapa and appointed a new mwene, Mavura Mhande Felipe, to the throne in 1629. From that point, Monomutapa survived by exploiting the rivalries between other African states and the Portuguese. The last mwene, Mambo Chioko, was killed in battle against the Portuguese in 1917.
Below is the list of all the King Munhumutapa and the period they ruled.
c.1430 Foundation of Mutapa Kingdom
c. 1430 to c. 1450 Nyatsimba Mutota, Mwenemutapa
c. 1450 to 1480 Matope Nyanhehwe Nebedza, Mwenemutapa
1480 Mavura Maobwe, Mwenemutapa
1480 to 1490 Nyahuma Mukombero, Mwenemutapa
1490 to 1494 Mavhuramhande, Mwenemutapa
1494 to c. 1530 Chikuyo Chisamarengu, Mwenemutapa
c. 1530 to c. 1550 Neshangwe Munembire, Mwenemutapa Neshangwe Munembiri ruled during the Rozvi Dynasty but he was not of the royal Moyo Chirandu clan (VaRozvi) He was a Njanja of the (Moyo Sinyoro clan). His father Gouveia was a Jew who ran away from Jewish persecution in the Iberian peninsula Serphad (Portugal/Spain) during the inquisitions.Gouveia married Chief Chirwa’s daughter Princess Mashawashe making her a Gambiza(Ger Tzedek Hebrew for righteous foreigner) When her son Neshangwe became a Mutapa/King in true Hebrew fashion she became known as Gebirah Hebrew for (Queen Mother) These two terms are now corrupted to Gambiza which means (Stranger amongest us or Righteous Convert). InNjanja tradition Gambiza is a term adopted by all women who marry a Njanja man like a conversion. Neshangwe is currently a Njanja chieftainship in Buhera.
c. 1550 to 1560 Chivere Nyasoro, Mwenemutapa
1560 to 1589 Negomo Chirisamhuru, Mwenemutapa Granted Coat of Arms by King of Portugal
1589 to 1623 Gatsi Rusere, Mwenemutapa
1623 to 1629 Nyambo Kapararidze, Mwenemutapa Overthrown by the Portuguese
1629 Mutapa becomes a Portuguese Vassal
1629 to 1652 Mavura Mhande Felipe, Mwenemutapa Signs treaty of Vassalage with Portuguese; Dies of accidental gunshot wound.
1652 to 1663 Siti Kazurukamusapa, Mwenemutapa Son of Mavura; assassinated by Prazos merchants
1663 Mutapa becomes a Rozvi Vassal
1663 to 1692 Kamharapasu Mukombwe, Mwenemutapa Allies with Rozvi and throws out Prazos
1692 to 1694 Nyakambira, Mwenemutapa Assumes throne with Rozvi support; Rozwi vassal king of Manyika after 1694
1694 Mutapa returns to Portuguese vassalage
1694 to 1707 Nyamhande, Mwenemutapa Defeats Nyakiambira with Portuguese support
1707 to 1711 Nyenyedzi Zenda, Mwenemutapa
1711 to 1712 Baroma Mugwagwa, Mwenemutapa Overthrown and retreats to Chidima
1712 Mutapa returns to Rozvi vassalge
1712 to 1723 Samatambira Nyamhandu I, Mwenemutapa Installed by Rozvi invasion
1720 Mutapa independent of Rozvi; moves capital to Chikova in 1723
1723 to 1735 Samatambira Nyamhandu I, Mwenemutapa Rules in close alliance with Portuguese at Tete
1735 to 1740 Nyatsusu, Mwenemutapa
1740 to 1759 Dehwe Mapunzaguta, Mwenemutapa Has Portuguese garrison reinstated at royal capital.
1760 Mutapa collapses in Civil War; dynasty survives in Chidima
? to 1917 Chioko Killed in battle with the Portuguese
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