Queen Elizabeth II, Monarchy, Imperialism, And General Nehanda’s Missing Head

s Britain mourns and prepares to bury Elizabeth II in a stately funeral, now is a good time to return Nehanda's head

Photos: YouTube

When Britain was colonizing the area now called Zimbabwe one of the resistance leaders was General Nehanda who led African soldiers to many victories. She was ultimately captured by the British imperialists in 1897 and executed by hanging in 1898. Nehanda’s head was cut off and shipped to England. Zimbabweans have been demanding for decades that Britain return the head of their brave soldier.

Statue of General Nehanda in Zimbabwe

During colonial conquests, tens of thousands of Africans were massacred and millions of acres of their land, and their livestock, stolen and given to Europeans who then renamed the territory Rhodesia. Similar campaigns of dispossession were carried out by Britain and other imperialists—France, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany—throughout Africa. This, the last 20 years of the 19th century, was referred to as the “Scramble for Africa.” To avoid war amongst themselves the Europeans met in Germany at the infamous “Berlin Conference” from November 1884 to February 1885 and formally split up the African continent.

Tens of thousands of Africans died resisting colonial conquest, in West Africa, East and Central Africa, and South Africa. The only African country Europeans failed to conquer was Ethiopia, which destroyed an invading Italian army within six hours on March 1, 1896 at the Battle of Adwa. The African soldiers exploded the myth of white supremacy by killing 3,000 Italian soldiers including two generals and capturing one. Nearly 3,000 more Italian prisoners of war were marched by Empress Taytu Betul and Emperor Menelik II, the Ethiopian leaders and put to work helping to build Addis Ababa the capital city. On that occasion the tables were turned—Europeans compelled to work under African supervision. They were released the following year after Italy paid Reparations.

At the time of the British Imperial conquest in Africa the monarch was Victoria, great-great grandmother to Queen Elizabeth II who died on September 8 the age of 96 after 70 years on the throne.

Elizabeth herself became the British monarch in 1952 when her father King George VI died while she was on safari in Kenya, also colonized by Britain. While she was “touring” Kenya, British troops were conducting a brutal military scorched earth operation against the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA) guerrillas who were fighting to recover millions of acres of land stolen from Africans and given to 1,000 Europeans. They initially were granted 99 years leases—later extended to 999 years.

The British and U.S. media demonized the Kenyan freedom fighters as “Mau Mau” savages as I write about in my book “Manufacturing Hate—How Africa Was Demonized in Western Media.”

It’s estimated that as many as 100,000 Kenyan civilians were killed or disappeared during the resistance. KLFA leader General Dedan Kimathi was captured and executed in 1957. There’s the iconic photo of Kimathi, wounded, on a stretcher, knowing he was to be killed, and staring calmly at his captors who displayed him for media. He was buried in a secret location. It’s unclear if his head remained intact. Caroline Elkin’s “Imperial Reckoning” offers a solid account of the crimes committed by Britain in Kenya.

Although Nehanda fell fighting for her people, her resistance, called the First Chimurenga, inspired the guerrilla army fighters of ZANU and ZAPU—led by Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo respectively— who in the 1970s fought a liberation war against Ian Smith’s Western-backed white minority apartheid regime in what was then Rhodesia. In honor of Nehanda that struggle, which succeeded in 1980 and gave birth to Zimbabwe, was called the Second Chimurenga.

As Britain mourns and prepares to bury Elizabeth II in a stately funeral, now is a good time to return Nehanda’s head for a, likewise, stately and proper African burial in Zimbabwe. Nehanda Oyee! Dedan Kimathi Oyee! Africa Oyee!

Editor’s Note: Join the conversation on Britain, the Monarchy and Imperialism on September 13, at 3PM U.S. Eastern Time by tuning in to “Black Star News Show” on WBAI 99.5 FM Radio and www.wbai.org

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