Rhodes still dominating us spiritually

Cecil John Rhodes, the man who annexed Zimbabwe and named the country after him, is still dominating Zimbabweans spiritually even in death, the Member of Parliament for Bulilima East Mathias Ndlovu said in Parliament last week.

Ndlovu said he was reminded of British imperial forces every time he passed Shangani River on his way to Parliament because of the small plaque in memory of the Allan Wilson Patrol which vanquished the Ndebele warriors near Shangani River.

He dreamed of the day when Zimbabwe would remove Rhodes’s grave from Njelele at the Matopo Hills “where our rain God resides”.

“Why are these pioneers still buried with arch-imperialist Cecil John Rhodes on top of the Matopo Hills, our most sacred national shrine?

“King Mzilikazi, the founder of Ndebele nation is buried in the same hills below their graves. Surely, if Cecil John Rhodes wanted to be buried at the world’s view as he named the Matopos, he should have chosen Table Mountain, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Instead he chose to dominate us spiritually even in death.

“I think, of the countless heroes, living and departed, as I embark on a journey to this august Assembly. I dream of a day we shall reclaim our heritage by removing Cecil John Rhodes’s bones from Njelele, where our rain God resides.

“I dream of a day when the nation shall celebrate the Lobengula’s brave worriers who fought gallantly at the Shangani River.

“I dream of a day when the Khalanga people will have their own traditional structures restored by installing their deposed.

“I dream of a day Zimbabwe sets up a Heritage Fund or Foundation to research into the achievements of our ancestors in the fields of medicine, agriculture, mining and archaeology et cetera.

“I dream of a day that Zimbabwe history should be a compulsory subject for all our children from day one at school.

“I dream of a day the Government shall commission patriotic historians to re-write and teach Zimbabwean history. Our history must teach our children about the cruelty of 500 years of black slavery including the role played by Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo and Robert Gabriel Mugabe in liberating Zimbabwe.”

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