NKULUMANE MP Desire Moyo (Citizens Coalition for Change) has asked the government to consider erecting the statues of King Lobengula and his wife Queen Lozikeyi at Parliament Building in Mt Hampden.
The New Parliament Building currently has the statues of Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi.
Moyo made the remarks during a Parliament session at the Parliament Building in Mt Hampden on Tuesday.
“I stand up proud of this Parliament Building which is beautiful, showing the work which we do here to build our country Zimbabwe. Just after the great meeting of the Southern African Development Community, we saw the show off of the beauty of Parliament,” Moyo said.
“When we arrived here, I saw two statues, that of the heroine Mbuya Nehanda and that of hero Sekuru Kaguvi.
“To exhibit these with the mantra ‘leaving no one and no place behind’, I see it very important that we must realise that these are not the only ones who can portray the greatness of the country. So that the country moves on and develops, we have other heroes like Lobengula and Lozikeyi who need to be there to show our unity.”
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He said this would make everyone in the country, including those from his constituency and the Matabeleland region, feel part of a united Zimbabwe.
In response to Moyo’s submissions, Speaker of the National Assembly Jacob Mudenda said the matter was being discussed.
“This matter is work in progress,” Mudenda said.
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.
According to historians, it is said that King Lobengula’s footsteps disappeared soon after crossing the Shangani River after the Pupu Battle.
Lobengula’s date of birth is shrouded in ambiguity.
It is, however, believed that he was born in 1834 as Lobengula Khumalo.
His father was Mzilikazi Khumalo, who was the first king of the Ndebele people.
Lobengula was crowned the Ndebele king in September 1868 after the death of his father.
It was reported that a dispute arose over his legitimacy for kingship considering that his mother was a Swazi princess.
He was, however, sworn in as the Matabele king and was coronated in 1869.
In July 1893, the Anglo-Ndebele war broke out during which the Ndebele army was defeated at Shangaani and Bembezi and Lobengula set his capital on fire and escaped.
It is believed that Lobengula died the following year, but the cause of his death is still unknown.
Some say he succumbed to smallpox after he fled his capital heading northwards towards the Zambezi River.