“THEY PAVED WAY FOR THE BRITISH COLONISATION OF ZIMBABWE.” HOW FAR DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS COMMENT ON THE ROLES OF MISSIONARIES, HUNTERS AND TRADERS IN 19TH CENTURY ZIMBABWE?

Commenting on colonialism, Tewodros II a nineteenth century Ethiopian emperor said that “I know their game. First it’s traders and missionaries. Then it’s ambassadors. After that, they bring the guns.” His sentiments would be echoed by Jomo Kenyatta who also pointed out the close connection between the bible of the missionaries and the flag of imperialism. The colonisation of Zimbabwe was no exception and this essay shall demonstrate that to a large extent it followed the classic pattern of missionary, hunter and trader activity before the imperial power came in.

British-born missionaries were first onto the nineteenth century Zimbabwean scene and not surprisingly British imperialism followed. Robert Moffat was permitted by Mzilikazi to set up the first mission station at Inyathi in 1859. Little did Mzilikazi and Lobengula know that Moffat and his son John would be sending out treacherous reports regarding the Ndebele as a “miserable people” and “it will be a blessing to the world when they are broken up.”

John Moffat went beyond mere rhetoric and rendered practical assistance to the cause of colonialism by entering the paid service of Cecil Rhodes and negotiating treaties which laid the basis of colonialism. To this end, he fully exploited old ‘family ties’ with Ndebele royalty and got Lobengula to assent to the Moffat Treaty and Rudd Concession both in 1888. The first circumscribed Lobengula’s power in foreign policy issues while the second gave Rhodes’ agents complete mineral rights and full powers to procure them in Lobengula’s territory. It was on the basis of the Rudd Concession that the British government granted Rhodes a charter for the colonisation of Zimbabwe. Considering the fact that Lobengula virtually surrendered his territory and independence for negligible returns, it is most likely that he was misinformed with (Moffat’s connivance) as to the actual written terms of those treaties.

Lobengula followed Mzilikazi’s example and permitted the London Missionary Society (L.M.S) to open a second mission under Charles Helm at Hope Fountain in 1870 and that too was a mistake which paved the way for colonialism. Like the Moffats, Helm was firmly convinced that no substantial conversion of the Ndebele to Christianity was possible without the undermining of Lobengula’s power and the destruction of the Ndebele traditional structure. Just like John Moffat, Helm abused the trust Lobengula had in him by portraying Rhodes as a trustworthy and reliable man. Helm persuaded Lobengula to sign the Rudd Concession on which the colonisation of Zimbabwe was based.

The desire to colonise Zimbabwe was also touched off by the glowing and times exaggerated reports that the country abounded with mineral wealth and natural resources and these can be attributed to hunters and traders who visited the country. Thomas Baines was one such trader-prospector-cum artist and he was given a concession by Lobengula to exploit gold reserves but failed owing to lack of capital. His legacy mainly lies in the vivid but highly romantic paintings that portrayed a land awash with elephants and other natural resources only waiting for Europeans to exploit.

Traders such as George Westbeech and Karl Mauch spread rumours about the abundance of gold leading to suggestions that there could actually be a ‘second rand’ in Zimbabwe. Mauch was even granted the Tati Concession in 1870 and this was bought from him by Cecil Rhodes in his relentless drive towards colonizing Zimbabwe. Leask, Fairbairn, Philips and Tainton were some of the traders at Lobengula’s court prior to the Rudd Concession and they aided colonialism by selling their own concessions to Rhodes and persuaded Lobengula to sign with Rudd Lobengula’s tactics of playing off one group of Europeans against the others therefore, came to nothing as Rhodes’ financial muscle not only enabled him to buy concessions from his rivals, it also enabled him to get them to work for him in persuading Lobengula to deal with him. This was true of the traders and the missionaries and it was equally true of the hunters too.

Hunters like Henry Hartley and Frederick Selous also played their part in advertising Zimbabwe as a land full of minerals and big game. Hartley spoke favourably of the mineral prospectus after discovering gold 70 miles south-west of present day Harare while Selous even cut a road between Mashonaland and Matabeleland (Hunters’ Road) to facilitate the transportation of ivory. His biggest contribution to colonialism was to be in the guiding of the ‘Pioneer Column’ in 1890 as it trekked in from South Africa to assume control of Mashonaland on behalf Britain.

In the final analysis, it is evident that the colonisation of Zimbabwe owed to beliefs of abundant economic resources and the various concessions obtained from the African rulers. It is also evident that in all such beliefs and concessions obtained, there was the hand of missionaries, traders and hunters.