GOVERNMENT has engaged British authorities in dialogue over the return of the skull of the Broken Hill man to Zambia, Minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Nkundu Luo has said.
She was speaking in Kabwe on Wednesday during a ground breaking ceremony of Kabwe Mining Museum.
“The Broken Hill man is sitting in Britain and we have initiated discussions to bring back the Broken Hill man because it is ours and it must sit in this museum [Kabwe Mining Museum] when completed.”
“It is important for our tourism and I want to share this that the Broken Hill man speaks of the evolution of man and it’s a very important property of this country,” Prof Luo said.
Prof Luo said had Zambia invested in museums and former governments have persistently lobbied for the return of the skull of Broken Hill man, the skull of the primeval man would have sitting in Zambia.
Prof Luo also said Government wanst to develop the site where the skull of Broken Hill Man is believed to have been discovered in Kabwe in 1921 because it is an important heritage site.
The first ever mining Museum in Zambia has been opened by Enviro Process Limited (EPL) in partnership with the Zambian Government.
Prof Luo also said the museum will contribute to Zambia’s tourism as many people want to know how mining started in the country.
She said Government is happy that the mining museum has been established in Kabwe because that is where the first mine was opened in Zambia in 1904.
“Also significant is the fact that this is where the discovery of the Broken Hill man was done and I don’t know how many of us here know about the Broken Hill man and where it is? The only way we can know is when we have a museum like this [Kabwe Mining Museum],” Prof Luo said.
“This mining museum is not going to Kitwe, it is not going to Solwezi, it’s not going to Mufumbwe, it’s not going to Southern Province,” She said.
She noted that Zambia has developed on resources of the extractive industry, yet the resources are not showcased.
She said EPL has established the museum as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.
Prof also said the mining museum is also important because it is being established when Zambia is celebrating 50 years of independence.
I have a problem with this myriad of pronouncements made by our government every single day. These pronouncement are so many and yet no feed back comes forth because no time frame is set for them. Us Zambians do not follow these issues and get left out along the way. We really need to have the broken hill man’s skull and actually, the government should mount a big sculpture of pure copper for broken hill in Kabwe town as part of the story.
I will now buy a note book for recording all these pronouncement as they are said out. We want to start walking the walking as we are tired of talking the talk.
Now, i will follow the following issues to the foot:
1) Negotiations with the British government on the return of the broken hill man skull
2) A study by Delloitte on street vending…
#bringbackourbrokenhillman
Ask for everything they stole back not just the Skull!
It is high time. Let the PF return this important national asset to us, where other incompetent governments failed. Just make sure to overcome the barriers where the others failed. It takes time for these people to return these artefacts, ask the Egyptians. But if you are serious enough, that skull can return to our great nation. Kudos to Homo sapiens! Kudos to the skull!
Leave it the UK have you seen the state of the museums in Zambia? It will most probably be broken (pardon the pun), stolen, lost/misplaced, burnt. Best it stays in London, a replica would suffice.
Since the time they (Brits) took Kabwe Man, have any of those calamities befallen the replicas, pounds and pence? No.
The Brits will cite security, level of technology and environment as reasons why they should keep the skull. Just return it to us and tell your tourists where they can find it in its new location Zambia ba ngwele.
She looks like a Broken Hill Man too.
Wht a Fossil she is…..!! I hate ths Ugly Monkey she thinks her and Chikwanda r running the Govt.
Time will tell & will sort u out ….!!
Anderson sounds like broken hillman himself
Engage the British govt on companies listed on the London Stock Exchange such as KCM and Glencore that are involved in tax evasion. Thats more pressing than this historic artefact!
Engage the Brits for KCM tax evasion. Why engage the Brits to recover money for you? Clean up your own house and not always depend on others to do it for you. Dependency syndrome Ba Zambia!!! That’s why we’re still poor and always look up to others as superior or little gods. Believe in yourselves for once
@Chilala: How can I ( as an ordinary citizen) believe in myself (Zambia) whilst ministers/Acting President cannot declare conflict of interest of (his) company that supplies these multinationals (on an international scale) but whose kandiles are quick to claim national ownership of an old calcium skull. Perhaps I am so dull. Please let me know which is more valuable, recovering correct taxes from a 500m usd profit per year tax evader or turning a blind eye. Or putting pressure & enlisting Pamela Chisanga to talk to UK Prime Minister Cameroon to do the job that my Zambian finance minister and VP have lamentably failed to do. I beg for your indulgence/explanation.
Prof Luo,how sure are you that British can’t bring back a fake Broken hillman SKULL ?We are old enough to keep our treasures,50years old.
Broken H is my uncle. ……..Lol
She wants her look alike back, this woman’s face is so scary.
what about all the stolen Zambian Art i found in a Paris museum in France?
Zambians we are very much behind.Lets learn to appreciate others efforts than insults, 50 years is enough for us to reason.In God’s sights we are all beautiful.
My only reservation is that in Zambia the state of libraries and museums is so bad that this relic will just be neglected and will eventually be lost to the world. At the moment, you can see this relic in London. It has been preserved for a very long time. Zambia needs to look after what is in Zambia first before taking on what is in safe-keeping abroad. If we are so interested in exhibiting this and other items in Zambia, I am sure the British Museum can arrange a road tour. It is not long ago that the Chinese arranged an exhibition of the fabulous terracotta army in London. A lot of people, who otherwise could not go to China to see the collection, were able to see it. Are we even sure this woman is telling the truth about engaging the British government anyway?
Our politicians are good at taking advantage of occasions such as this to make announcements about things they will do in the future. The only problem is that is all they are – announcements. There is never any follow-up.
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!
I am all for returning to the rightful owners what belongs to us.
However I have my reservations, as are we capable of safely looking after this Valuable rare artefact, when we Don’t have the capability to maintain, & fix something simple like Vubwi Bridge?? I doubt, & it will be same story of pass the buck or parcel as witnessed when our ministers abdicated all blame for the failure of Vubwi Bridge.
Wouldn’t be surprised once home, Broken Hill man goes missing, everyone abdicates responsibility, & it eventually gets found in Kapokos’ sitting room.
ONLY IN ZAMBIA!!!
@Mukame
Britain must give back Broken Man, to Zambia. It is not in safekeeping. Depriving other countries from their national heritage is wrong. Your logic has holes in it. How many ordinary Zambians can afford to go to UK to see their national treasures. Why should Britain’s economy grow at the expense of poorer countries? They charge entry fees to UK Museums which has VAT tax. This is a contentious issue and involves other countries hard done by the thieving Colonial Britain. One would think they would now want to make amends for their ignorant past. You seem very negative on something that is a patriotic issue. It is good Ms Luo is developing museums and chasing after our artefacts for the benefit of our economy and educating our young on their past.
Well said! Let’s get it back now before they auction it to the highest bidder as they recently did to some Egyptian artefacts.
Prof Luo,
You should also “engage” the Zimbabwe Govt over the Horse and Rider Statue which used to be at the High Court grounds in Lusaka, which Kaunda (without any sense of imagination, historical and tourism importance) deported to Ian Smith’s Rhodesia.
Up to 1980, OUR statue was hosted high up the Harare City Council Revenue Hall gardens opposite the Harare Polytechnic. It was brought down by the Mugabe govt and is now confined into some museum.
The statue is similar to the ones in Cape Town and Bloemfotein in South Africa. They depict a man on a horse stopping for a breath while gazing north of the African continent.It represents Cecil John Rhodes ambition of building the British Empire and the road and rail network from Cape to Cairo. All we have remaining is Cairo Rd, Lska
@ Wantashi,
Sure sure? Am now fumming With anger what is wrong with these African old leaders? Imagine how the have managed to erase the DNA of our reach History? I bet ZNBC has no programmes on Zambian History like how the Mwiisa ( foreigners) were sent packing? Such programmes are not only important for our generation but help retain the pride for our fathers who made Zambians what it today in terms of freedom! Besides, it teaches more of what is excluded in schools en text books, inspires future Zambian/African Historians, I wish things could be the way I envision them!
Too right. However, we would need to build another museum for what that statue represents and call it, ‘Thwarted Colonial Ambition Museum.’
We want it back, no bullsh!t!.
How about asking back some of the billions of money Mr. KK erroneously spent liberating our ungrateful neighbours?
Are you….. like a cyber Ku Klax Klan member or something?? We already got our money back for liberating our fellow blacks from people like you and Ian Smith. That was money well spent. Our borders are reopened after Ian Smith shut it down, we can’t complain about liberating SA And Zim blacks. Thank you!
Iwe patriot abroad Smith didn’t close the border. It was Kaunda who closed the border. We have never been paid back the money we sacrificed liberating Southern africa because there were no compensation agreements after the liberation. Remember Germany had to pay Britain and allies after the world war.
It’s about time! I will never get these developed thieves…… Imagine how much they have stolen across continents? To this date they are still stealing and we are so proud of them even lend us With interest that which should be ours in the first place! They even write Best sellers on my granpa’s existence in the far far away land of Zambia yet no one has raised their finger to ask questions until now??
Mrs Luo thank you for taking such an initiative you and your team now go get him old fellow!
“the Broken Hill man speaks of the evolution of man….” What a faux pais! I thought we were a Christian nation! And Christians don’t believe in evolution. They believe in Adam na Eva.
I was privileged to participate in a heated debate about Broken Hill Man. True, as patriots we need to keep our relics. The only challenge is technical, namely insurance, security, temperature level, moisture level, expertise, staffing, etc. For these reasons, it makes sense to hold back and be patient. meanwhile, the technology is advancing and promising to attain the required level of sophistication. A situation where the BHM is returned to Zambia only to be vandalized, disappear into thin air, or to get dilapidated beyond recognition must be avoided at all cost.