Charwe Nehanda, Zimbabwe's Warrior Spiritual Leader at the Forefront of Zimbabwe's Anti-colonial Struggle

Charwe Nyakasikana, during her time, served as a spiritual leader as well as one of the key figures in Zimbabwe’s early resistance against British colonial rule. She was popularly referred to as Mbuya Nehanda, but her real name was Charwe Nyakasikana. In her early years, Charwe was identified as the host of an ancient oracular spirit that prophesied and brought rain to her people. As time went on, the honorific, “Mbuya” was added to her name and she became known as Mbuya Nehanda or Mbuya Charwe. 

In the 1890s, Charwe played a central role in organising and inspiring the first Chimurenga — a revolt against the British colonisation of present day Zimbabwe which included ridiculous tax impositions as well as the seizure of indigenous land and resources. She was eventually captured and executed by the colonialists on charges of murder. Today, she is remembered as the spiritual grandmother of Zimbabwe and a national heroine who gave her life for the liberation of her people. 

Early Life

According to Zimbabwean traditional lore, men and women could become carriers of spirits. Such people would often be accorded great honour as mediums for reaching into an otherwise unseen world, the spirit world. So was the case for Charwe Nyakasikana. Born in 1840, in today’s Chishwasha District of Central Mashonaland, Charwe was believed to be a female incarnation of an ancestral oracle spirit called Nehanda. However, Zimbabwean historian, D.N. Beach suggests in a research article titled, “An Innocent Woman, Unjustly Accused? Charwe, Medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit, and the 1896-97 Central Shona Rising in Zimbabwe,” that she may have been possessed by the oracle's spirit in 1884. Charwe would go on to marry a man whose name history does not recall to date and bear two daughters and a son.

Charwe’s role as an oracle in her community was very crucial to the daily life of her people. She had the responsibility of making oracular pronouncements as well as performing traditional ceremonies the people believed controlled the natural forces of rain and good harvest. As a result of her supernatural abilities, Charwe held great power and status among her people. A distinguishing feature of hers was a staunch commitment to upholding the traditional culture of her people. 

White Settlers

Charwe’s role as a spirit medium to the Shonas, gave her immense influence and spiritual authority among her people. It was during her time that British white settlers began to migrate to the region. At first, the settlers were welcomed with open arms, an act that was greatly encouraged by Charwe and other spirit mediums in the land for the purpose of good relations. Charwe had specifically told her people, as the oracle of God, that the settlers were harmless and had even described them as mere traders. As was the culture, she also instructed her people to take a black cow to them as a means of extending their friendship. 

However, as time went on, Charwe and her people would come to realise that the white settlers were not as harmless as they had thought. By 1894, the British settlers had begun to overstep their boundaries, showing their true colours. 

Under the leadership of Cecil Rhodes, they began to send more immigrants into the region, causing friction with the indigenes. In 1888, Rhodes tricked the King of the Ndebele people into granting him a concession for mining rights. In 1889, Rhodes presented this illegal document to process a Royal Charter over Matabeleland with the goal of colonising and subjugating Zimbabweans. In 1890, he further recruited two hundred white soldiers to settle in the land and lead his imperialist effort. On September 13 1890, the Union Jack was raised in Zimbabwe, successfully annexing the land as a British colony.

As time went on, the friction between the white settlers and indigenes continued to grow. Most of the rulers in Mashona were particularly angry with the turn of events, especially as it had also brought about strange actions such as the introduction of taxes and levies, land and cattle seizures, sexual abuse of their women, forced labour conscription and displacements from ancestral lands — all in an attempt to find gold. 

Revolt

By 1896, locals could not stand the oppression any more and with a coalition between the region’s religious and political leaders, a military campaign against the British settlers began. The resistance was known as the Matabele Rebellion but is more commonly referred to as the First Chimurenga War (war of liberation). Originally started by the Ndebeles of Matabele in May 1896, the resistance was later joined by the Shonas in October of the same year. Notably, the movement was led by three revered spiritual figures across these regions: Mukwati of Matabeleland, Kaguvi of western Mashonaland and Chawe (Nehanda) — the only woman leader, of central and northern Mashonaland. 

The role these spirit mediums played in the war cannot be overemphasised. Due to cultural beliefs, their voices were as good as the voice of god — Mwari. It is important to note that Kaguvi who was the spiritual medium in western Mashonaland was revered as Nehanda’s spirit husband who purportedly resided in Charwe at the time. As a result, Kaguvi became Charwe’s greatest ally and together they did great exploits against the British.  Kaguvi was of the opinion that all the problems that had come upon the land had emanated from the white settlers. After convincing Charwe of this, they both began to preach this ideology, insisting that it was from Mwari (god). As a result, indigenous were made to believe that the white settlers had brought the locusts and the rinderpest. Cattle that died as a result of these events were prevented from being eaten by their owners as such cattle had to be burned or buried. 

These teachings marked the beginning of a full-fledged war against white settlers because according to Charwe and Kaguvi, Mwari had decreed that all white settlers were to be driven out of the country. Confronted by the fear of superior firearms, both also preached that Mwari would turn the bullets of the white settlers into water. 

Charwe had a prominent role in planning the Chimurenga war. Prior to its start, she had established a military headquarters in a network of caves located in Husaka mountain. There, she trained men and women volunteer fighters and strategised attacks that targeted British economically significant infrastructure, including mines and farms. 

During this time, Husaka Mountain served as a stronghold for Charwe and her people. Within its heights, chiefs, headmen, and common folk alike came to her with their concerns. Every entrance to the mountain was heavily guarded by armed sentries, and Charwe went so far as to establish different military codes that ordered her soldiers when to strike and kill.

Reports have it that the British themselves admitted the efficacy of these strategies. One of their officials of war reported, “So cleverly was their secret kept, and so well laid the plans of the witchdoctors, that when the time came, the rising was almost simultaneous.”

Charwe’s significance in the scheme of things did not go unnoticed. She was, in fact, considered one of the biggest threats. The British commissioner for Salisbury (today’s capital of Zimbabwe) wrote about Charwe, “…constantly spoken of in my hearing ever since I came to Mashonaland in 1890. At the present moment she is the most powerful wizard in the Mashonaland and has the power of ordering all the people who rose lately, and her orders would in every case be obeyed.”

In a counterattack, Britain dispatched five hundred troops to Mashonaland. Under the leadership of Colonel Edwin Alderson, they soon discovered the dispatch was ineffective and withdrew. They soon resorted to burning crops and villages as well as throwing dynamite into the caves where villagers sheltered. These actions by the Shonas and Ndebeles and countercations by the British led to months of guerrilla warfare. Overall, the war garnered so much success that in 1897, a public press photograph was taken of Charwe and Kaguvi to showcase their success. 

However, in the same year, both the Shonas and Ndebeles were defeated after running out of supplies.  Charwe and Kaguvi were both captured by the British and taken to Salisbury under heavy guard. Charwe was charged with the murder of Henry Hawkins Pollard, the native commissioner in charge of the region who was known for his cruelty. Kaguvi was charged with the murder of a police officer. Although the charges against them were believed to have been trumped up, Charwe was found guilty through eye-witness evidence, and was put to death by hanging by the authority of Alfred Milner, the British High Commissioner for South Africa, in 1898. Before the hanging, the Christian religion was preached to Charwe and Kaguvi in an attempt to convert them before their death. While Kaguvi converted, Charwe remained deeply committed to her religion and people. 

There are different accounts of the difficulties encountered when killing her. However, the same statements have been iterated through history, of Charwe’s resounding statement about how she would rise again: “Mapfupa angu achamuka!,” meaning “My bones will surely rise! For her, it meant a second battle but this time a successful one. 

Her head was eventually chopped off and sent to England alongside spiritual artefacts as trophies of war. 

Legacy

Charwe Nyakasikana has been commemorated by Zimbabweans through statues, novels, songs and poems. Streets and hospitals such as the maternity ward in Parirenyarwa hospital in Zimbabwe have even been named after her. 

Notably, later resistance movements in the 1960s and 1970s often referred to her spirit as a motivating factor, including those led by notable figures such as Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. The former is particularly remembered for his statement in 1979, “If Nehanda were alive today, there is no doubt she would be a member of the Patriotic Front.”

As these movements went on, Charwe’s name became intrinsically tied to nationalist movements in Zimbabwe. Nationals believe that Charwe’s words about her second coming were the foundations for the second Chimurenga Uprising organised between 1964 and 1979. This second uprising eventually led to Zimbabwe’s independence. 

Today, Charwe’s name is often prefixed with the title “Mbuya” or “Grandmother.”