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It was meant to unite a nation, but instead it is dividing it yet deeper along political and religious lines. A bronze 3.5 metre-high statue of Mbuya Nehanda, who played a key role in Zimbabwe’s fight for independence from colonial rule, has stirred up controversy because of the way it depicts her.
Mbuya Nehanda, or Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana, was a spirit medium who helped to lead the country’s 1896 rebellion (known as the First Chimurenga) against white settlers. The rebellion was crushed and Nehanda and other rebel leaders were arrested and hanged.
Only one photo of Nehanda, taken shortly before her execution, survives. It shows an elderly woman standing next to Sekuru Kaguvi, another spirit medium who was hanged.