The Bulawayo Declaration on the restoration of the Mthwakazi monarch

WHEREAS the Mthwakazi nation was founded under the leadership of King Mzilikazi;

AND WHEREAS King Mzilikazi ruled until his death on the 9th of September1868; AND WHEREAS, as per Mthwakazi traditions and customs, in 1837 izinduna installed King Mzilikazi's son, Prince Nkulumane, as King of a part of the Mthwakazi nation after that part under the leadership of izinduna and the other under the leadership of King Mzilikazi had, for the time being, lost each other;

AND WHEREAS the installation of Nkulumane as King was based on the principles of inkosi izala inkosi and the authority of Chiefs to do so;

AND WHEREAS the installation of Nkulumane as King was based on the mistaken belief, owing to the time having lapsed since and the fact that all search parties had produced no positive result, that King Mzilikazi may have died on separation of the two groups;

AND WHEREAS the installation of Nkulumane as King was reversed and rescinded in 1839 upon the arrival of King Mzilikazi who continued his reign until 1868; AND WHEREAS Lobhengula took over from his father, King Mzilikazi, as the legitimate King of the Mthwakazi nation in line with the long established principle of "inkosi izala inkosi";



AND WHEREAS all and any contestations of Lobhengula's ascension to the throne were fully and decisively resolved at the time and therefore there can be no legitimate and rational reopening of that closed chapter;

AND WHEREAS Lobhengula ruled as King until the 4th of December 1893 when he was illegally overthrown in the Anglo-Ndebele War by British colonial settlers;

AND WHEREAS after the overthrow of King Lobhengula and the simultaneous colonialisation of the Mthwakazi Kingdom many attempts were made to restore the Mthwakazi Monarch, which attempts were suppressed by colonial settlers;

AND WHEREAS at all material times, for purposes of the restoration of the Monarch, the Mthwakazi nation only entertained bloodline descendants of King Lobhengula in line with Mthwakazi traditions;

AND WHEREAS the Mthwakazi nation now wishes to restore the Mthwakazi Monarch;

NOW THEREFORE, we the People of the Mthwakazi nation here assembled in person and in various social media platforms, DESIROUS to see the full and complete restoration of the Mthwakazi Monarch;

DETERMINED to uphold the Mthwakazi nation's value system;

HEREBY DECLARE:

1. That the Mthwakazi Monarch shall only be restored on the basis of inkosi izala inkosi principle;

2. That only a bloodline descendant of King Lobhengula be and is entitled to be considered as a legitimate heir to the throne;

3. That all claimants to the throne other than King Lobhengula's bloodline descendants be and are hereby rejected as acting outside the norms and traditions of the Mthwakazi nation;

4. That all subsequent heirs to the throne shall be appointed on the basis of inkosi izala inkosi principle, except where this principle is deemed inapplicable or otherwise inappropriate. In such a situation the Monarch and Chiefs, as a collective, or any other body that may be established, shall determine the principles to be followed for

succession;

5. That the Monarch shall discharge the functions and powers of the office in terms of international human rights standards and norms;

6. That the Monarch, in discha/rging his functions of upholding the traditions, history, heritage, languages, and cultural values of the Mthwakazi nation, shall observe the principles governing traditional leaders as enshrined in the national constitution;

7. (1) That the Monarch shall not discriminate against anyone on account of race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, creed, language, cultural practices, language, sex, gender, history, political affiliation, or any other distinguishing feature. (2) That the Monarch shall at all times recognise and protect equality, dignity and diversity of all persons and their freedoms of choice, association, expression, speech, thought, religion and conscience.

8. (1) That the Monarch is being restored within a constitutional and governance framework based on multi-party democratic principles. (2) That the Monarch shall not in any way interfere with or limit the right of the people to freely form, campaign and vote for their political parties or formations of their choice;

9. That the Monarch shall not in any way interfere with party political processes nor do anything that may lead an objective and reasonable person to believe that the Monarch is playing a role in party politics;

10. That the Monarch shall not take membership with any political party or formation or favour any political party or formation over others;

11. That the Monarch shall at all times operate based on the principles of gender inclusion and justice, the rule of law and administrative justice; 12. That the Monarch shall be the custodian and repository of the Mthwakazi nation's values and as such be the symbol of its unity in diversity;

13. (1) That the Monarch shall at all times recognise the multiplicity and equality of languages, religious and cultural beliefs and traditions in the nation and as such accord due deference as the case may be; (2) That the Monarch shall not in any way demand from any person, linguistic group, or association adherence to our cultural values or traditions where the constitution accords such people by reason of religion, history, tradition or culture to be exempted; (3) That under no circumstances shall the Monarch impose a preference of religious beliefs on the people; 14. That the Monarch shall at all times ensure efficiency, integrity, accountability, transparency and probity in the administration of resources entrusted to, or under the supervision of, the institution; AND we further resolve, inter alia, as follows: 15. (1) That, notwithstanding the absence of any express constitutional clause providing for a King in the present day Zimbabwe and in particular, in line with our constitutional right to freely express our cultural beliefs and traditions, the Monarch be identified and coroneted; (2) That everything be done to ensure that the constitution expressly and unambiguously provides for the Monarch contemplated in this declaration;

16. That in the intervening period before the State assumes relevant responsibility with regards the welfare of the King, we shall be individually and voluntarily provide for the Monarch's upkeep and incidental expenses;

17. That izinduna representing the people, in consultation with the broader Khumalo family, shall identify the rightful heir within the King Lobengula household;

18. That while pushing for the finalisation of the restoration of Mthwakazi Monarch, we reject any person who imposes themselves as King;

19. That a conciliation and negotiation process be set up to resolve any disputes arising from the installation of the Monarch;

20. That the proper, authentic and rightful king of the Mthwakazi nation be and shall be coroneted by the Chiefs on the 9th of September 2017 at the latest;

21. That a royal finance committee be formed forthwith for the purpose of raising funds to cover royal expenses, investing these funds and ensuring that the monarch as an institution in perpetuity remains in sound financial footing.

22. That a committee/network of writers, researchers, media houses and other publicity agencies be created to deal with the anticipated media onslaughts and other hostile machinations.

23. That a team be established to work on the constitutional and legislative operationalisation of the Monarch, with and/or without any amendments to the existing constitutional and legislative framework. AGREED ON THIS 26th DAY OF JULY 2017