*LIBERATION HERITAGE TEACHINGS* Join our community for more updates https https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vai0FQJ11ulJHRRO3r0l *Untold dynamics of the earliest fight against colonialism: Heroes and Heroines of Our Struggle* To begin with, it is important to acknowledge that resistance against colonialism was a collective effort that will be hardly attributed to one individual as the major contributor to the fight in ending white rule. Chimurenga is historically a giant stride that will always be remembered as a process of self-actualization and expression of the human desire to be free from the chains of oppression to realize self-determination. This is why true independence is to be treasured – it came with blood and tears. The purpose of this brief is to debunk some historical incongruences that have become generally accepted yet may be far from the accurate records. *The key points to note as we try to establish the contributions of heroes of the First Chimurenga are the following:*  1. Resistance against white settlers did not start in Mashonaland. It started in Matebeleland. Right from the onset, 1893, there were uprisings in Matebeleland, the UmVukela otherwise known as the Anglo-Ndebele War. The Ndebele under King Lobengula resisted white encroachment into their territory. It was essentially a boundary dispute. 2. A prominent leader in the UmVukela, Mkwati, who was a Nyusa, featured in this war, offering spiritual guidance and using his spiritual prowess to ‘command’ the war. With his spiritual influence, Mkwati assumed a position equal to that of a military general. 3. Mkwati and Tenkela were to make Ntaba zika Mambo, later known as Ntabazinduna, a prominent Mwari Shrine from which they operated. They worked closely with the likes of Siginyamatshe, another spiritual messenger, and military forces under Mpotshwana, Mtini and Nkomo *How does resistance spread to Mashonaland?* 1. Soon after the Umvukela began, it was Mkwati who then advised the appointment of a male spirit medium in Mashonaland to assist the medium of Nehanda. Now what’s important to note is that by the time Mkwati goes to make this advice, the dominant Chaminuka Spirit in Mashonaland at that time did not have a medium, since Pasipamire had been killed in 1883 and had not been replaced. 2. Historical records show that although the Nehanda Spirit had always had a medium at that time when Mkwati comes to Mashonaland, she was not yet involved in the war, but was just a spiritual leader in the region. 3. It is Mkwati who then approached Chief Mashayamombe to appeal for a male spirit medium, who became Gumboreshumba from Hartley and Charter District and was related to the national spirit medium Chaminuka as Kaguvi’s spirit medium. 4. It is only after the blessing of Chief Mashayamombe, that the medium of Kaguvi through Gumboreshumba received messengers of all the Chiefs in Mashonaland and started co-ordinated plans for the First Chimurenga in Mashonaland. 5. The foremost military strategist who resisted white rule in Mashonaland was Chief Chinengundu Mashayamombe who gave the whites no rest between June and July of 1896. To the admission of a white settler who was involved in the fight against Mashayamombe, McGregor, Chief Chinengundu held up white forces for three days in battle and the whites could not dislodge him. Infact, there were more casualties on the whites than the Africans. 6. Nehanda and Kaguvi were to become instrumental in the recruitment and encouragement of Africans to fight against whites from a spiritual standpoint. Other significant fighters were Chief Chingaira Makoni who killed about a tenth of the white population amounting to 372 settlers. Mapondera was to return from the east where he had joined forces with Chief Makombe against the Portuguese, to revive the war in 1899 after the executions of Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi, Chief Makoni, Mashonganyika, Hwata, Svosve and Chiduku. These timelines demonstrate that the war started in Matebeleland and cascaded to Mashonaland, but the key figure in the transfer of the war spirit to begin what became known as the First Chimurenga, was Sekuru Mkwati. #let US RETELL OUR OWN NARRATIVES *NB:SEKURU MKWATI'S WALKING STICK WAS REPATRIATED BY TATEGURU CHIBATAMATOSI* Follow us on:- *FACEBOOK* *@Zimbabwe Intangible Cultural Heritage* https://www.facebook.com/share/17zXZ2WNmG/?mibextid=wwXIfr *INSTAGRAM* @ *ZICH TV MEDIA* https://www.instagram.com/zichtvmedia/profilecard/?igsh=d3N3ZmlkbTZ4a3E= *TIKTOK* *@ zichtvmedia* https://www.tiktok.com/@zichtvmedia?_t=ZG-8srTiO9lFYH&_r=1 *YOUTUBE* *@ ZICH TV* https://youtube.com/@zichtvmedia?feature=shared 🔄🔄🔄Share our Articles and documentaries with Family and friends