Zimpapers Logo

Farirai Machivenyika and Zvamaida Murwira
The skulls of heroes of the First Chimurenga that are displayed in British museums should be repatriated in a manner that respects traditional beliefs and values to appease the spirits of the deceased, social commentators and war veterans said yesterday.

Consultant on Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the Department of Sociology at the University of Zimbabwe, Professor Claude Mararike, said the repatriation of the skulls was not just a physical aspect, but spiritual.

“What is being brought home is not necessarily the skulls, but it is bringing the spirits of those ancestors home to rest among their people,” he said.

“The critical idea of bringing their skulls is to unite them with their people spiritually.”

Added Prof Mararike: “These are our spiritual attachment figures. We are attached to their spirits as Zimbabweans. Spiritual attachment figures are a very important aspect in our African traditions. If you don’t have that figure, the belief is that things will not go well. We must relate to our ancestors in spirit and if we don’t have that attachment, we don’t have the relation.”

He said because the important issue was bringing the spirits of the deceased, so it was therefore important that relevant people be involved when repatriating the skulls.

“We need to be careful of who does what and who says what and to whom (kusuma). It is therefore important that their relatives who understand their traditions are involved, so that there are no mistakes otherwise we run the risk of creating another problem,” Prof Mararike said.

Prof Mararike said the repatriation of the skulls would complete the independence of the country and the re-attachment of the country with the spirits of its ancestors.

Another commentator and lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe Professor Sheunesu Mupepereki, echoed similar sentiments.

“In our tradition the burial of the physical body is not the most important aspect. That is why you find in some instances people can be buried without some of their limbs.

“The most important aspect in our tradition when someone has died is to appease the spirit. In this circumstance we should therefore be led by the families of the deceased who understand their rituals so that they carry them out properly,” he said.

Some of the skulls are believed to belong to Mbuya Chahwe, the medium of the Nehanda Spirit, Sekuru Gumboreshumba, the medium of Kaguvi or Murenga, Chingaira Makoni, Chinengundu Mashayamombe, Mapondera, Mashonganyika and Mutekedza Chiwashira.

War veterans said the return of the skulls should not only be accorded decent burial, but must form part of Zimbabwe’s political history to be included in schools syllabi.

Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association national chairman Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa, said while there was need for traditional processes to be carried out, he had also engaged United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation to explore ways in which that could form part of the country’s history to be taught to youngsters.

“Now that we are bringing them back and give them decent burial, it means Zimbabwe should come to terms with its history. We have to revisit the teaching of our history so that we empathise with the families. My Ministry is now working with Unesco to teach the liberation history; it is an unfinished business,” said Cde Mutsvangwa who is also Welfare Services for War Veterans, Collaborators, former political detainees and Restrictees Minister.

Minister Mutsvangwa said he first raised the issue of the skulls a few months ago when he held a meeting with a visiting British diplomat.

Minister Mutsvangwa said the return of the skulls showed cruelty and put paid to continuous propaganda that young people had been subjected to that the British imperialists were saints.

“It is a throwback which shows that barbarism and depravity run in the DNA of British imperialists. The same people who decapitated our forefathers in the First Chimurenga were the same people who massacred blacks in Nyadzonia freedom camps and many others. Now they want to masquerade and pontificate as saints,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.

He said the return of the skulls was a wake up call to young people who had been subjected to Western propaganda that had seen them denigrating their African identity.

“For young people who have been constantly under a barrage of propaganda denigrating the African identity, now they have seen who are the real barbarians bearing modern weapons in the 19th century. This was a gory, macabre and bullish act by imperialist Englishmen.

“The sad thing is that we are being constantly lectured on morality, yet they have skeletons in their cupboards,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.

War veterans chairperson for Harare province Cde John Guta, said there was need to conduct a cleansing ceremony upon the return of the skulls.

“We do not know what they have been doing with our forefathers’ skulls. There is need for a cleansing ceremony to be done by all stakeholders, consistent with our African values,” said Cde Guta.

Former war veterans national chairman, Cde Patrick Nyaruwata, said the return of the skulls was supposed to be one of the items on the agenda during the Lancaster Conference.

“Since we have extended a hand of reconciliation, we will just have to bury our heroes consistent with our African culture,” said Cde Nyaruwata.