SELF-IMPOSED King Munhumutapa has written to King Charles of England, giving him an ultimatum to remove Cecil John Rhodes’ remains buried in the Matobo National Park in Matabeleland South province.
The demand has been contested by the Ndebele King Bulelani Khumalo and King Mambo Mike Moyo, who described Munhumutapa, born Timothy Chiminya, as an unnecessary attention seeker.
The letter dated June 13, 2025, is directed to the British embassy in Harare.
It was copied to President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage minister Kazembe Kazembe, his Defence counterpart Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Foreign Affairs and International Trade minister Amon Murwira and the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe.
“I, as King Munhumutapa of Zimbabwe Kingdom, am writing this letter to King Charles, notifying you firstly that I am now in place so I am kindly asking you to exhume the corpse of Cecil John Rhodes and John Wilson, thanking you and appreciating the things they did in our country, at the same we have concern over the heads of war heroes and heroines you took to your Kingdom,” he said.
“We want them back to Zimbabwe for proper burial in their land. This act was done in our absence, by our ancestors, so now let us give Caesar what belongs to Caesar and God what belongs to God.”
Chiminya gave the UK monarch three weeks to repatriate Rhodes’ remains.
He also demanded to be handed the heads of fallen heroes and heroines in exchange for Rhodes and Wilson.
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However, King Mambo, Mike Moyo, had no kind words for Chiminya.
“There is only one national King in Zimbabwe, that is, me. I was crowned on September 7, 2019, with 121 chiefs gracing the occasion. Anyone who claims the kingship after that date is fake,” Moyo said.
“I was in Harare in June, I met the Minister of Local Government, Daniel Garwe, who informed me that the government is at loggerheads with Chiminya, who was in prison during the first quarter of this year,” he said.
Moyo, however, agreed that Rhodes’ remains must be removed from Matobo.
King Bulelani Khumalo’s spokesperson, Bornman Khumalo, said the Ndebele Kingdom did not have any problem with Rhodes' remains in Matopo.
“We are not fighting with people. We are in the reconciliatory path, we are reconciling with people and not fighting, later on, a person who died long ago, we cannot continue to fight with him,” he said.
“We want to connect with people to build relations and where we clash, we talk and reconcile, we are not radically in a fighting mood regardless of colour, race and creed.
“That person just wants unnecessary publicity. What also worries us is why he is busy with what is happening in Matabeleland before looking into what is happening in his home area in Mashonaland.”
He said Rhodes’s remains were not causing any problems in Matabeleland.
Rhodes died more than 120 years ago in South Africa, aged 48, after carving out swathes of territory for the British Empire and was buried at the Matobo National Park.
In 1902, as requested in his last will, Rhodes was buried atop a granite hill in Zimbabwe's world-famous park.
The grave site has become increasingly contested in light of his intimate involvement with colonisation and exploitation.
Rhodes, a British imperialist, businessman and politician, is described as arguably the most divisive figure in colonial Africa.
Often described as a philanthropist, Rhodes dreamt of a British Africa from Cape Town to Cairo, with the blessings of Queen Victoria.
