(MENAFN) The UK has agreed to return the skeletal remains of Zimbabwean freedom fighters who were killed during the 1896–1897 First Chimurenga uprising against British colonial forces, local media report. The remains, taken as war trophies, include the skulls of rebel leaders and spiritual figures such as Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi.

Discussions over repatriation have been ongoing for more than a decade. In 2015, former President Robert Mugabe criticized Britain for retaining the decapitated heads in museums, calling it a grave act of racial insensitivity and moral decadence. According to Zimbabwean officials, at least 11 skulls are held at London’s Natural History Museum, two at Cambridge University’s Duckworth Laboratory, and others in an unspecified Swiss museum.

Raphael Faranisi, permanent secretary at Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, said the first phase of the repatriation process has begun, with plans to construct a storage facility to preserve the remains. The ministry has outlined a roadmap for recovery, aiming to complete the process promptly.

Zimbabwe, formerly Southern Rhodesia, was a British colony from 1923 to 1980, during which time resistance movements faced severe repression. The country now commemorates Heroes Day each August to honor those who fought against colonial rule. President Emmerson Mnangagwa reaffirmed this commitment in a speech marking the 45th Heroes Day since independence, pledging to safeguard national sovereignty against neo-colonial influence.

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