The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Reporter
THE Mambo dynasty has set in motion plans to construct monuments at the burial sites of its founding fathers, inclusive of the founding king of the Lozwi/Rozvi empire, Changamire Dombo.
The leader of dynasty, King Mambo — born Mike Moyo — who was installed on September 7 last year — last Thursday said he had been shown (through spiritul means) the burial sites of all the late kings of the empire and has since started engaging the Government to see how they can construct monuments at the locations as a means of both honouring them as the country’s founding fathers and also creating tourists attraction to boost the nation’s tourism revenue.
King Mambo revealed that their wish was to have started constructing the first monument by April 2021.
“I have been shown where our founding fathers were laid to rest, and I am talking about from our founding king, Changamire Dombo up to the last king of the dynasty; Chilisamuli. Our plan is that we start the construction of monuments at the sites as part of efforts to honour our founding fathers. As it stands, I am the only one who knows the locations of the burial sites but my wish is to make them known worldwide and also have tourists coming here to get a full appreciation of the history of this land,” said King Mambo.
He said it was their hope that the Government chips in to assist them noting that the monuments will go a long way in explaining part of the country’s history which had been lost along the way.
“We have begun meeting with various Government officials so as to ensure that this project comes to fruition, our main aim being that by April we should have made significant progress in the construction of the first monument.
“What you have to realise is that the Lozwi/Rozvi empire has a huge stake in the Sadc region in terms of historical significance hence these monuments will not be just for Zimbabwe but from the entire region,” said the leader of the dynasty.
Meanwhile, King Mambo revealed that they will soon start engaging various embassies in the region with the aim of incorporating various areas that fell under the jurisdiction of the original Rozvi empire.
“Our kingdom is huge, it is not within Zimbabwe as historians would want to claim, actually it stretches from South Africa within the Limpopo province, to parts of Botswana, to the entirety of Mozambique right up to parts of Zambia. To reclaim the dynasty’s influence in these areas we will start talking with their various embassies based here in Zimbabwe, once those discussions begin, backed with the empirical evidence in history, we are confident that they will hear our case and help us reinstate this kingdom to its original boundaries,” he said.
King Mambo, whose coronation was reportedly attended by 121 chiefs last year, said his rule was not governed by the physical country borders but was more of a spiritual one.
“Most people mistaken our dynasty as a tribe, which is not the case at all, in fact we are a nation, we are a spiritual empire, such all our activities are not determined by us but the spiritual realm as guided by our ancestors,” said King Mambo.
He further revealed their intentions to revive Lozwi/Rozvi chieftainships noting that the majority of chiefs in the country were installed by the white colonial government, which he noted had since made their ancestors angry, which was going to affect the nation.
“Our ancestors are not happy, which is why you find spiritual mountains like the Njelele shrine no longer have the talking voices like we were told by our fathers. There is a need to consider that in our customs, chieftainships are not just inherited but this is a process which is led by our spiritual ancestors emanating from these mountains.
“When you look at the current setup nearly half of the chiefs were installed by the white colonial government meaning in all frankness they have no connection with our ancestors, which is one thing which I am working on rectifying, so that at the end of the day we have traditional leaders chosen by our ancestors so as to revive that spiritual connection,” said King Mambo.
