PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa this week touched off a tribal storm after he joked that revered Ndebele king, Lobengula, was dull.
Addressing a gathering in Chivhu at Makumimavi Primary School on Thursday while commissioning 17 schools, Mnangagwa said King Lobengula was ignorant of innovation and killed a man who had shown him a mirror after seeing his reflection.
He then encouraged young people to be cognisant of new information and communication technologies so that they would not be like the “old man”.
“As I was touring the school, I saw the computer system — pupils in one class were talking to others in another class and we were seeing them through the computer system.
“It happened long back and I was telling VaChiwenga [Vice-President Constantino]. Long back, Mambo Lubengula (Lobengula), King Lubengula, when he heard from Queen Victoria — she invited King Lubengula for a friendship, but she said, ‘For it to be stronger, sent your three envoys so that they will come and see where I rule because my missionaries have seen your jurisdiction already, so sent yours so that they will see here (England),’” Mnangagwa said.
He said King Lobengula later sent his three envoys to England.
“So the three envoys went and were given a mirror and they looked into the mirror and saw themselves. When they returned, before they had explained what transpired, they gave the King the mirror and he saw himself and said, Umthakathi lowu. Bulala Umthakhathi... (This is a witch kill this witch).
“And the man died. So we do not want people among you who are dull like this old man. We must promote education, science and technology,” he said.
- Abafana bakaMzilikazi ventures into African disco
- Deutsch Connect partners local college
- Deutsch Connect partners local college
- Prince seeks to follow in Peter Ndlovu's footsteps
Keep Reading
The statement stirred controversy within the crowd, with some expressing their disgruntlement through inaudible interjections, which resulted in Mnangagwa pausing his speech for a while.
Mnangagwa’s jibe at King Lobengula comes barely five months after national broadcaster, ZBC, suspended two presenters Farai Magada and Victoria Manase for denigrating the late Ndebele king live on national television.
Manase, blamed colonial-era abuses on black people by whites on 1800s Ndebele King Lobengula whom she claimed was enticed by sugar.
Magada said colonialism, despite its ‘ills’, was a necessary evil as they could now ‘sit in front of cameras and wear proper clothes not nhembe”.
King Lobengula was the last Ndebele king. He ruled the Matabele Kingdom after the death of Mzilikazi in 1868, until the demise of the Kingdom in the mid-1890s.
This is not the first time that Mnangagwa’s dry jokes have unnerved people.
He has also developed a penchant for attacking his surbodinates including Chiwenga who he sometimes calls a young man.
Launching the Youth Services Zimbabwe in Mtawatawa, Mashonaland East province last week, Mnangagwa also “embarrassed” Lands and Agriculture minister Anxious Masuku after giving him US$500 to buy a new suit in front of thousands of delegates.
