ON April 27 1898 the District Surgeon for Salisbury wrote, “I certify that I have examined the body of Nehanda, upon whom sentence of death has been executed, and that life is extinct.”
The surgeon, as put through by author Charles Samupindi, “was wrong, so very wrong”.
For her bones rose again as she prophesied they would inspire the Second Chimurenga that toppled the colonial regime.
Mbuya Nehanda and many others that fell fighting oppression were a source of inspiration and strength to fight the determined colonialists.
Sadly we do not know where Mbuya Nehanda, the great leader, our iconic revolutionary and inspirational leader was buried after the callous execution.
Hatina guva rekushanyira tichirangarira.
Because of that desire not to be detached from our heroine it is said that the tree along Josiah Tongogara Road, which has now fallen, was where Mbuya Nehanda was hanged.
The tree was a physical reminder of our heroine, her exploits, her courage and steadfastness in defending the country against invaders.
Never mind whether it is or it is not the actual tree, but its importance is that it reminded and kept us connected with a very important past.
India’s hero Mahatma Gandhi was cremated and his ashes were strewn all over India, but he has a monument in Delhi where thousands visit in remembrance of the great works he did for his country.
Locally, statues of Cecil John Rhodes abound in the country and the biggest shrine of the chief architect of the colonisation of the country is in Matopo.
Whites from all over the world, especially the British, visit their hero making pilgrimages to his grave every year.
But passing through Tongogara Street one is saddened.
The place where the tree, commonly referred to as the Mbuya Nehanda tree, once stood now has nothing; soon the spot might be surfaced to facilitate the smooth flow of traffic.
The spot, in its present status screams; we are on the verge of erasing a shrine, decimating a physical presence, a physical statement of our past.
And it is a past that holds so much for us and is the cradle for this present era and a source of the strength that has kept us going as a people.
We have no physical point where we can say, here lies Mbuya Nehanda.
Even if it is a myth that she died on that spot along Tongogara Road, but we have somewhere and something to hold onto.
The place where the matriarch of this nation is said to have died, where she breathed her last after an impressive fight against colonialism is a shrine which must be given and treated with respect.
I appeal to the city fathers and mothers, to the museums and monuments authorities and other stakeholders responsible for protecting and safeguarding our heritage to ensure that we preserve and set up something significant at the spot where the tree used to be.
They must consider the spot a shrine.
And it does not require a huge edifice probably just a few rocks or even a plaque can do so that we do not forget, daily we will be reminded of our heroine.
To date some statues of Rhodes still stand in prominent places in our country and daily just by looking at them people are reminded and talk about the colonialist.
We have so many shrines of colonialists in the country celebrating the exploits of the likes of Allan Wilson and his ‘brave’ men, but we fail to commemorate and venerate our own ancestors who fought against the very same people who have shrines all over our land.
Shame on us.