By Tendai Guvamombe
Harare, Zimbabwe (News of The South) – Today Zimbabwe celebrates 39 years after attaining independence from the hands of the white imperialists but is reluctant to accomplish the unfinished business relating to an improper equation left unsolved by the colonial masters.
Biblically the word of the Lord came to Moses instructing all Israel in Egypt to carry with them bones of their Forefathers since time immemorial on their transcontinental journeys to the promised land.
Such a a universal cultural norm depicts on how a person after death should find resting place in the country of origin regardless of various circumstances.
However this may not be the case to the improper equation created by the colonial masters in Zimbabwe which saw Cecil John Rhodes a British imperialist buried at Matopos while heads of Royalties shipped to England.
Rhodes relocated from England with a view to establish colonies in Southern Africa on behalf of the British government but one would wonder why they chose to bury him at the rocky grounds of Matopos Hill in Bulawayo of all the colonies he reigned over in Southern Africa.
Matopos is a sacred place where the Mwali Traditional Cult of the Rozvi State was established and history has it that voice of the creator used to communicate with the people from this place which was only visited by 12 sets of virgin daughters, young boys who had never tasted woman’s breast, old aged women and elders.
Therefore burying Rhodes at such a sacred shrine was a ploy by the white settler regime to stifle black majority from pursuing a liberation agenda as the act is no different from turning a church alter into a grave.
Simultaneously the very white settler government had the odecity to rip off the heads of iconic spirit mediums of Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi and the seven royal leaders shipping them for display at Natural History Museum.
This was subsequently followed by Christionization of the entire Zimbabwean plateu as demonstrated in the case of Leopold the Second of Belgium telling a missionary importance of colonization to the Europeans, “The reason why I am sending you to Africa is not to preach the word of God but to plunder and exploit African resources, you shall tell them their God is evil but remember our mission is to plunder their resources,” says Leopold the second, King of Belgium at the eve of scramble for Africa.
Such sentiments clearly demonstrates how Zimbabwe lost socioeconomic prestige at the hands of imperialists a predicament which has created more harm than good to the entire populace.
As the negotiations to repatriate the Zimbabwean Royals continue to gather momentum the government should also exert pressure on the British government to repatriate thier own Cecil John Rhodes from Matopo as this would help restore the once mighty Mwari Traditional Cult of the Shona tribes.
On the other hand bringing back skulls of the Royals to soil of orign would eventually trigger a new form of independence in restoring socioeconomic pride with highly achievable political stability.
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