I recently learned that Maureen Stewart, the former manager of the British Council in Bulawayo, passed away on 23 December 2024. At exactly 5PM, my cousin Lynette sent for me. Was I expecting a call?
From the British Council Harare? Clifford said, “What did I tell you?” I ran home to call back who became a dear sister-friend, the late Anne-Marilyn “MaNkomo” Nkomo. I, had, been, selected.British Council Bulawayo (BC Bulawayo) was opened by Elizabeth II, then-Queen of England herself, and her husband Prince Phillip, who had come to see King Lobengula’s famous City of Kings on 12 October 1991.
I have seen the resting place of both, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor,and lit two candles for our forebears, Babuyane Masuku (Mbiko) and Mtshede Ndiweni (Khondwane),who on behalf of our King went to Windsor Castle on an arduous three-month sea journey in late November 1888. The two diplomats arrived in February 1889 to meet the one and only Victoria, then-Queen of England, regarding the world infamous treachery of the Rudd Concession.
