President Robert Mugabe says his government is initiating a process to repatriate human skulls of heroes of the first chimurenga that were taken to Britain by colonial settlers as “war trophies”.
Addressing crowds during the Heroes Day celebrations today (Monday), Mugabe said a number of human skulls were taken to Europe but now have to be repatriated back to afford the war heroes decent burials.
“Today as we salute these fallen and living heroes for their unyielding tenacity and unflinching courage, we are sadly reminded of the human remains of some of our first chimurenga heroes and heroines. The remains of our heroes, sacred to us, which were taken out of the country during the colonial period, have now been identified in the British history museum” he said.
“The remains, skulls, we strongly believe are the skulls of beheaded heads of Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru kaguvi, Chingaira Makoni, Chinengundu Mashayamombe, Mapondera, Mashonganyika and Chitekedza Chiwashira among others.”
Mugabe launched an acerbic attack on Britain saying the idea of keeping decapitated heads as war trophies in this day and age in “national history museum must rank among the highest form of racist moral decadence, sadism, and human insensitivity”.
“Once all the necessary process have been completed for the return of these illicitly removed remains of our ancestors, it is our wish, in consultation with our traditional leaders, that they be given lasting rest, at sacred shrines on the very land against whose occupation they bravery fought,” he said.
The president, who addressed a gathering largely dominated by Zanu PF supporters, took at dig at opposition parties that have been calling for reforms in the criteria used to select national heroes saying only those “who were and are consistently loyal to the liberation cause have their patriotism selflessness courage, determination, never questionable, or in any doubt, at any point in time”.
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“Often I have found some misguided elements in our society denigrating our heroes and the shrine at national, provincial or district levels, where we have laid our heroes to rest. The misguided elements whom we share Zimbabwe with have the absurdity and weird and wayward opinions, on who should be declared a hero. Here and now, such people better be advised to stop entertaining themselves with mirages, that only exist in the minds of the misguided.
“Let me make it abundantly clear that these sacred shrines are solely for our heroes who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of this country,” Mugabe said.
The president also said his government was not just restricting itself to the care of dead heroes but has given itself the task of “adequately ensuring the welfare and of a addressing the plight of veteran’s of the liberation struggle.”
