By HRH Princess Eugene Majuru – Cultural Heritage Sovereign Custodian & Princess of Harare
Today, March 1st, 1897 the wind over the Kopje feels heavier. It carries the scent of ancient woodsmoke and the bitter sting of a betrayal that has bled through three centuries. While the world sees Harare as a bustling modern capital, those of us with Shumba Gurundoro blood see the scars. We see the borders of a stolen Kingdom—from the heights of Mount Hampden to the fertile sweeps of Mazoe and Nyabira—and we hear the restless spirits of the Mbari clan, whose sovereignty was brutally dismantled by British steel on this very day in 1897.
The Desecration of the Great Lion
The fall of the Mbari Chieftaincy was not a “handover”; it was a calculated erasure. In 1890, the British South Africa Company’s Pioneer Column looked upon the Kopje—the spiritual and administrative heart of our people—and saw only a “strategic vantage point.” They did not see a civilization; they saw a commodity.
By 1896, as the first fires of the Chimurenga (War of Resistance) rose, the Mbari clan stood as the vanguard. We remember the Mazoe Battles and the harrowing Mazoe Sieges, where our ancestors fought with a ferocity that stunned the colonizers. But the peak of this horror was reached at the Mountain of Slay—the Enkeldoorn (now Makumimavi) genocide.
It was there that the British forces, in their desperation to break the spirit of the Harare Royal Family, turned the mountainside into a tomb. Even today, as I write this with a heavy heart, the remains of my ancestors—heroes of the 1st Chimurenga—lie scattered in the open air at Makumimavi. They have no graves. They have no peace. They lie in the wind, a physical manifestation of a century-long injustice.
A Legacy of Evasion: From London to Harare
For decades, we have sought not vengeance, but accountability. The paper trail of our engagement with the British Crown is a testament to colonial apathy.
1897: The British dismantle the Chieftaincy.
1998: Mbari representatives engaged the late Queen Elizabeth II. The response? She was “too busy.”
2022-2023: Upon his ascension, King Charles III was contacted. The excuse remained the same: “numerous engagements.”
Late 2025: We escalated the matter to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
January 2026: A meeting was held in Harare with Second Secretary Chris Toward. Despite earlier communications acknowledging the destruction caused, the meeting was a masterclass in avoidance. Responsibility was deflected.
February 2026: The FCDO officially attempted to wash their hands of the blood, claiming the issue is a “Zimbabwean government responsibility.”
Let us be clear: The Zimbabwean government did not dismantle the Mbari Chieftaincy in 1897. The British did. The British caused the Mbari Genocide. It is their moral, historical, and financial responsibility to fund the decent burial of the remains at Makumimavi and to facilitate the return of our heroes currently held as trophies in British museums.
The Burden of the Sovereign Custodian
As the Princess of Harare, I carry the weight of every displaced clan member now living in destitution on the lands of other chiefs. I carry the mandate bestowed upon me by my ancestors to ensure that the Mbari bloodline is never erased from the history of the nation we host.
Harare is the heartbeat of Zimbabwe, yet the nation often forgets whose soil they walk upon. We are the sovereign custodians. We are the descendants of King Mbari. We will not be silenced by bureaucratic “busy-ness” or diplomatic redirection.
A Call for Justice
I have challenged the FCDO’s recent response (February 19th, 2026) and have briefed the UN Special Rapporteur on the persistent British attitude toward this restorative justice. We are currently awaiting their response.
To the current and future generations: know your history. The restoration of the Mbari Chieftaincy is not just about a title; it is about the dignity of a people and the healing of a land. Our ancestors fought for this kingdom, and we will continue that fight until the Great Lion of Harare is accorded its rightful place in the sun. The struggle for restoration continues
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