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Zvamaida Murwira Harare Bureau
ORDINARY Zimbabweans, lawyers and relatives of slain heroes of the First Chimurenga/Umvukela whose skulls are displayed at British museums yesterday expressed outrage over the barbaric act. They are angry with the British government that continues displaying the skulls of Zimbabwean heroes while purporting to teach Zimbabwe the values of human rights and democracy. Only animal heads, like the iconic Cecil the Lion, that was recently illegally killed in Hwange — they said — deserve to be displayed the way the British are displaying the skulls of Zimbabwean heroes as trophies of colonial conquest.

Legal analysts said Zimbabwe reserved the right to sue for damages for reparations for the brutality in terms of international legal instruments like the Mau Mau fighters in Kenya have done over the torture they were subjected by the settler regime.

Addressing thousands of people at the National Heroes’ Acre on the occasion of Heroes Day on Monday, President Robert Mugabe castigated Britain for the barbaric killings, saying British authorities had since invited Zimbabwe to repatriate the remains.

The government, the President said, will begrudgingly bury the remains at the country’s sacred shrines.

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 Chitekedza Chiwashira.

The great grandson of Chitekedza Chishawira, Tichadii Ziwengwa Chishawira, yesterday said his great grandfather was killed in 1897 in a brutal way.

“It’s painful for us,” he said.

“My great grandfather died after he was tied to the leg of a horse. The whites accused him of rebellion after he resisted and fought white supremacy. The decapitation of our forefather is an indictment of how insensitive imperialists were.”

Chief Musarurwa, another relative of Chiwashira, said the effect of the barbaric slayings was that their descendants lost the chieftainship they enjoyed.

“That’s why we’ve said the chieftainship of those people should be retained,” he said. “We need the chieftainship of Chingaira, Chiwashira, among others. The skulls should be returned while accompanied by reparations.”

The current Chief Mashayamombe, whose great grandfather Mashayamombe was also brutally killed, said the displaying of human skulls in museums was taboo in African culture and denoted the brutality of the settlers. “That shows disrespect for our culture,” he said. “That’s why I’ve written a letter to the government, even to Her Majesty the Queen (of England), saying I want the skull of my leader. So, we welcome the development being undertaken to return them. But we aren’t happy with the attitude of the imperialists. Even the killing itself was brutal.”

Political analyst Alexander Kanengoni said the brutality of the West against Africans demonstrated their racism and double standards.

“Their view is that we’re lesser people than them,” he said. “The brutality is grounded on racism. It’s what we’ve been fighting for that they should treat us as equals.

“If you tell them to treat us as equals they think we’re crazy. They want to justify their injustices like colonisation saying it brought civilisation.”

Harare lawyer Tendai Toto said Britain’s continued holding of human trophies was despicable and unjustifiable in a modern civilised society.

“The human trophies kept by Britain must return home accompanied by unreserved and unconditional apology by the British government,” he said. “These human trophies deserve decent burials in Zimbabwe, thus respecting the dignity of the human spirit and being of the deceased.

“The withholding and continuous display in museum of the ‘human trophies’ is construed by civilised communities as unrepentant attitudes and conduct of the British people towards the black African communities and the sitting governments. It takes a civilised mind to admit and confess to colonial wrongdoing and return the human trophies and appease our own ancestral spirits.”

Tawanda Zulu, writing from the United Kingdom, said only animals should be decapitated and have their heads displayed as trophies.

“It’s quite ironic that they’re outraged over the decapitation of Cecil the Lion while holding on to the heads of our forebears.’’

Toto said Zimbabwe through the Attorney General’s Office could explore legal channels under international law. “The sustainability of the lawsuits depends on admissibility of such claims in the Court of the European Union and jurisdictional limitations,” he said.

“It could have been easier if Zimbabwe was a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as it has recognised claims for reparations to victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Harare lawyer Terence Hussein said Zimbabwe could invoke international legal instruments to sue Britain for the killings and the displaying of the skulls.

“There are international conventions for recovery and restoration,” he said. “The Mau Mau people in Kenya did the same; they sued the United Kingdom and won their case. We could follow the same route and our chances are quite good.”

Another lawyer Jonathan Samkange said Zimbabwe could claim damages against Britain, adding that the money could run into billions of United States dollars considering the gravity of the brutality.

“We can institute a class action against Britain and possibly its allies like what other countries have done,” he said. “It can be in the form of a class action or Zimbabwe as a sovereign State representing its own people against anyone who participated in the heinous act.”

Samkange said Zimbabwe could also sue Britain against the brutality of the Smith regime dating back from the day he unilaterally declared independence on November 11 1965. “What’s important is to get government support, otherwise it can be hijacked by opposition elements,” he said.