HISTORY writers from across the divide claim that King Lobengula fled from Leander Jameson’s terrorist army of mercenaries which, in 1893, waged a war of attrition to rob the Ndebele nation of their land and wealth. 

King Lobengula was the custodian of the Ndebele Kingdom.

However, it is rather harsh and defies logic that such a great king who battled the whites about the Rudd Concession; cancelled it and announced thus in the papers in the UK and sent emissaries to the Queen of England to protest this fraud; whom the whites feared so much that when the column of bandits moved into Mashonaland, in 1890, they avoided him; would just up and run, forsaking his people. 

It’s not true that the commander-in-chief of the Ndebele warriors abandoned everything to the vultures he knew were so voracious and ruthless.

To say he fled is to indict King Lobengula; that he did not care for his people.

Surely a great king would fight to the last; he would not abandon his post.

What would be logical is that the king realised the magnitude of the enemy force and its genocidal intent and decided the best option was a strategic retreat; that he needed to step out and regroup, being aware what devastating effect it would have on the Ndebele nation if the whites were to capture and kill him. 

It would demoralise the Ndebele nation and make it too harsh for them to rise from the ashes and drive out the white menace. 

King Lobengula had dealt with whites for decades. 

He understood their greed, total disregard for human values; that above everything they valued covetousness and lust for what belonged to others.

King Lobengula was methodical and deliberate. 

He burned down his headquarters and left Bulawayo. 

It would be logical that he did so as a sign that he had departed, calculating that the sooner the enemy realised he had departed, the sooner they would reduce their brutality and harshness against his people.

I will use the narration of events by Major Forbes, who was in charge of the column that pursued King Lobengula, in December 1893, from the book: The Downfall of Lobengula written by W.A. Willis and L.T. Collingridge and published by Books of Rhodesia (1971) to unravel the events which are purported to be Lobengula’s flight. 

This is given as the official version of the Chartered Company of Rhodesia of the events of the war of 1893 so it is not in any way flattering to King Lobengula or the cause of the Ndebele. 

I will look at the last three days of the ‘chase’, which begin with the chapter, ‘The loss of the Wilson Patrol’.

They had been told that the king was on the West bank of the Shangani, which was 15 miles away and an African informer had told them that the King had only a small force with him and many people scattered about him taking care of the herds:

“We had been following the spoor of the king all the way, and it kept a straight course through the bush, he had done very little cutting having driven straight over everything but the largest trees. 

We had passed two of his wagons which he had burnt when he left them and close to the laager we found the remains of his bath chair, the latter had been pulled by sixteen oxen. 

The spoor from here ran down the east bank of the Gwambo, running then almost due north, through an open valley 600-1000 yards wide, and along the edges of the bush on both sides were deserted scherms (temporary shelter),” writes Forbes.

The description above defies the notion that Lobengula was in flight. 

He did not attempt to hide his path, to make it difficult for the whites to track him. 

He charts a straight course; going through an open valley and along the edges of bushes and not through bushes to seek cover from the bushes. 

It is almost as if he wanted his pursuers to see which way he was going as if he was inviting his pursuers to catch up with him. 

He left clear indications of which way he had gone.

On the trail on this day, three scouts, whom Forbes had assigned to track the king, suddenly found themselves surrounded by Gambo’s (Lobengula’s brother) 20 mounted men. 

The three whites feared for their lives, but they were not killed. Instead, they were escorted back to the main column. Longengula’s scouts did not kill them. 

The king was not a random fighter but very strategic. 

The whitemen were so convinced of their invincibility, particularly because of their faith in the Maxim gun. 

They still continued on their malevolent mission to capture the king of the Ndebele. 

Forbes boasted from experience; he knew natives could not stand the Maxim gun which fired 60 rounds a minute.

They did not think that King Lobengula would factor this in and would therefore not hazard a direct attack but rather he would choose guerilla warfare, which he did. 

Thus Gambo and his mounted men did not surprise the main Forbes’ Column but rather the three scouts. 

This was a great strategic move which would cost so much psychological energy, disturb them and lower their morale. 

It did cost. 

Forbes immediately discontinued the dispatch of scouts realising they were so vulnerable, and he had to rearrange the column, to heighten its state of alertness. 

The pursuers were no more so relaxed pretending to chase a king in flight — this was a king who was still fighting. 

They had to know the king was around and very much taking care of business. 

One of the scouts was very upset by the encounter with Gambo’s men. 

Forbes recounts: “Burnham had always before appeared to be absolutely fearless and ready to go anywhere but this upset his nerves very much and showed him what he would not admit before that the Matabili were really an enemy to be careful of.”

So King Lobengula was not in flight. 

He had time to fight as he was retreating, coasting, so they would never forget who the Ndebele king was.

This challenges the notion that King Lobengula was a helpless prey under siege and in flight. 

He had a security system in place. 

Forbes and his column were shaken by this encounter. 

The following day, where Gambo’s men had surrounded Forbes’s scouts, Forbes and his men found a deserted temporary settlement where at least 1500 men, women and children had slept.

If King Lobengula was fleeing, why would he travel with almost 1 500 men, women and children?