NEHANDA, KAGUVI REMAINS SECRETLY LAND IN HARARE? Social Media Bombshell Exposes Govt Cover-Up
HARARE — The government was last night caught in a web of contradictions after explosive social media claims that the sacred ancestral remains of First Chimurenga heroes Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi quietly touched down at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on Sunday morning — directly clashing with its official denial of a planned high-profile reception.
The bombshell was dropped by influential X user LynneStactia (LynneM), who claimed the remains landed at 08:00 aboard an Air Zimbabwe flight, hours before a second state delegation jetted in on an Emirates flight at 5:00 PM.
LynneStactia, has built a reputation for having impeccable sources inside the system after accurately revealing a number of incidents including the secret signing of CAB3 on July 7 — posting that she had the signed document while government was still denying it.
Yesterday she posted that National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) Director Ivan Murahwa and Deputy Director Paul Mupira received the cargo: “more than 10 heads, 2 bodies, and unidentified bones,” now allegedly secured at the National Museum in Harare.
She claimed a later delegation including Deputy Chief Secretary Rev. Paul Bayethe Damasane and Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Ambassador Raphael Tayerera Faranisi arrived in the evening and was yet to brief President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
In a damning indictment of the process, LynneStactia questioned why Chief Fortune Charumbira, Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe, the families of the fallen heroes, spirit mediums (masvikiro) and traditional chiefs (madzimambo) were excluded.
“Why is this being done in secrecy instead of as a fully national, culturally inclusive event?” she asked, accusing government of treating the return as a restricted presidium affair rather than a national spiritual homecoming.
The sensational claims came just hours after government attempted to pour cold water on the event.
Permanent Secretary for Information Nick Mangwana on Sunday dismissed a viral draft programme that had listed President Mnangagwa, the First Lady, Vice-Presidents and Kazembe Kazembe as expected to receive the remains at the airport, saying it did not appear in the official government diary.
Mangwana last week had confirmed human remains were en route from the United Kingdom, but pointedly refused to confirm their identities.
Zimbabwe has for years been pushing for the return of remains held by British institutions, including the Natural History Museum in London and Cambridge’s Duckworth Laboratory.
While public expectation has centered on Nehanda, Kaguvi and other 1896-97 Chimurenga chiefs, UK museums have previously said archival research failed to establish specific links to named individuals, though returns were approved on moral grounds.
No official forensic identification has ever been publicly released.
The secrecy has triggered a storm online.
One user demanded a public holiday so citizens could line the streets to welcome their ancestors.
Another erupted: “Our ancestors havaitirwi chi vanhu ne vatorwa” — arguing that Kazembe Kazembe, who they labelled a “mutorwa” (foreigner), should not lead the rituals.
Other posts questioned whether the remains even date back to the Chimurenga period, citing earlier UK parliamentary responses that could not confirm Nehanda or Kaguvi’s remains.
By early Monday, there was still no official government confirmation of the arrival time, the exact number of heads and bodies, their storage at the National Museum, or what cultural protocols involving clans and spirit mediums would be followed.
(Picture: BBC Zimbabwe)