The Zimbabwean president wants the remains of the colonialist to be exhumed and repatriated to Britain.
Rhodes died in 1902. His self-chosen burial place is at Matobo Hills National Park, south of Bulawayo.
Mnangagwa told traditional leaders on Friday in Harare that Rhodes’ remains should be returned in exchange for Zimbabweans’ ancestors’ remains in the UK.
“We still have Rhodes’ remains in Matobo. What do you think about it? If you go to the shrine, you don’t know whether you are talking to Rhodes or our ancestors. His remains must be returned to where he hailed from and we can also have our ancestral remains which are being kept in Europe,” said Mnangagwa.
Calls for Rhodes’ exhumation date back to 2012. The late former president Robert Mugabe blocked war veterans and Zanu-PF politicians from exhuming his remains, saying his legacy was part of the country’s history. The veterans had blamed his grave for the lack of rain in the Matobo area.
The gravesite is a tourist attraction, visited by thousands of tourists both local and foreign. It lies at the summit of a hill known as the “World’s View.” Locals call the hill where Rhodes lies “Malindadzimu”, a word meaning “burial place of the defied ancestors”.
Zimbabweans are charged ZWL$40 entry to the national park and an additional ZWL$25 to see Rhodes’ grave. Foreigners pay US$15 (R237) for admittance and an extra US$10 (R158) to view the site.
In 2003, the sacred Matobo Hills was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site and the gravesite is under the custodianship of the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe.
Sit mortuus mendacium – let the dead lie
Zimbabweans pay mroe than foreigners to see the tomb of a pillager. I guess he continues to screw the locals even in death
I guess that’s Zim dollar, my bad but still should not pay
Send him back, his ghost is still haunting the people of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Chibwezeni kwamene china choka chi kamunyama.
We are where we are looking for our stolen wealth because of him. Send it back!
So if you want to lose that income which at least is contributing to that impoverished nation of yours than do likewise.
SEND IT BACK PLEASE
WHY SHOULD HE LIE THERE AND SEE THE PILLAGE AND DESTRUCTION OF THAT BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
Mugabe was wiser than the Croc. What benefit will people get out of this action? Waste of time and detraction from real problems.
Great patriotic leader unlike hh who is kissing whlte man’s backside and suffers from inferiority complex
Instead of focusing on improving lives of citizens and stopping corruption, they want to exhume soil.
This is the reason people should vote for sane leaders.
In Zambia we learnt the hard way, but we have redeemed ourselves. I pray our brothers and sisters next door will do the same soon.
LEAVE THE REMAINS OF CECIL RHODES ALONE. HE LABORED HARD TO OPEN UP SOUTHERN AFRICA. EVEN IF THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THAT HE MAY NOT HAVE DONE WELL STILL HE PIONEERED THE CIVILIZATION OF SOUTHERN AFRICA THROUGH THE BSA AND OTHER BUSINESS VENTURES. IN FACT THE POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE WE FOUGHT FOR AND OBTAINED HAS LOST ITS MEANING IN MANY AFRICAN COUNTRIES DUE TO POLITICAL VIOLENCE AND POVERTY WHICH THINGS ARE NOT CAUSED BY RHODES.
The old croc has simply run out of ideas on managing the Zimbabwean economy; Uncle Bob detested the colonists but never even contemplated this…we all know Cecil Rhodes was an evil nasty piece of work who killed and ransacked southern Africa then to add insult decides to have his remains buried in sacred Matobo Hills.
Very good point, they have also been calls in the UK to take down his statue at Cambridge University, but doubt that nothing will come out of it, considering the money he left for powerful figures and institutions.
History has both pleasant and unpleasant bits. Our role is to learn lessons from both. U cannot rewrite history if it has already been correctly recorded, pleasant or unpleasant.
@Better must come, which history books have been reading? Even the British are ashamed of this imperialist. They would probably punish Zimbabwe for sending him back out of embarrassment. If you don’t know your history then please just YouTube it and hear it from the horse’s mouth.
@Logic, are you sure Zambians pay more to visit this park and the Cecil Rhodes’ grave. I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure ZWL$40 is NOT equivalent to US$40 nor is ZWL$25 equivalent to US$25. One is in Zimbabwean dollars and the other in U.S dollars. The two are worlds apart!
Anyway, I think the decision is entirely for Zimbabweans to make depending on how they few Cecil’s grave on top of that sacred hill/mountain transgresses their indigenous spiritual practices. Who knows, may be Cecil Rhodes know the spiritual importance of this hill to indigenous Zimbabweans and just wanted to stick a MIDDLE FINGER to Zimbabweans even in death. But dude is DEAD either way, so gives a sh1tttt!!!!
It’s like we Africans are only good at hating each other while everybody else disdains us, coz even in Congo they still have a statue of Leopold. Smh
Sorry, I meant “Zimbabweans” and NOT “Zambians” in my previous post.
Look here, Cecil Rhodes is a historical fact, love him or loathe him. It’s a fact that he played a role in the founding of both Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Nemwine you must be a very dull upnd cadre. How did he found something that was already there? We were already inhabiting this land, so how did cecil them found our country? To hell my friend
Simple as it sounds, no racist must rest in Africa! Rhodes must not lay in the same place he exploited and impoverished for the benefit of the queen of england! We are still poor down here because of this man. like the Chinese did, lets do away with europeans and american! believe you me educated young Africans, that’s the only way for Africa!! Reject european financial debt. Force your governments not to borrow– and do with whatever little we have, and we shall soon see redemption–the Chinese did it–why cant we? Accept british dirty or debt money, and our future generations will remain forever indebted , dependent and poor. Its a vicious cycle westerners have created –they want to forever keep us indebted so they keep stealing our natural wealth! Time is now! Let kick…
BaKaizar,
The land existed and the people did. But there was no Zambia and no Zambians; Bemba, Tonga, Ngoni, Lozi, Lenje we’re here but they were not Zambian. The ambition of Rhodes and his supporters is what led to Zambia, it’s borders and the idea that it was one territory under one law and political authority. Otherwise our country may have ended up as a Portuguese bridge between Angola and Mozambique, an extension of Katanga or as bits and pieces added to other territories next door. In part Zambia exists due to him. As time goes by that part will recede in importance as the contributions of Zambians accumulate, it is already far smaller than it was in 1964. The facts speak for themselves as nasty as he was.
Kwame Kaunda Kenyatta: you do know that China grew rich by having western businesses build factories there with western money, attracted by the fact the Chinese state could guarantee cheap labour and low costs because it could coerce its people and spend money on infrastructure for business rather than schools or hospitals? If you want Chinese style development we need to pamper foreign business and force Zambian wages down, 12 to 18 hour work days six days a week and no labour rights. Sounds dandy.
Kenyatta did some sweet deals with British businesses and bought up plenty of settler owned land-which he did not give back to his people. He was no enemy of western investment. But at least he was a patriot hey? Never has been and never will be an African leader who seals their country…
Cecil Rhodes the filthy colonialist land grabber? I will pay $100 to piss on his grave.
Mr comment you mean we should celebrate the divide and conquer policy of Cecil Rhodes and his fellow imperialist, in which they used classification by tribe and delimitation by made up borders to divide and weaken us? You are a Brain washed f00I