Zimbabwean officials say the skulls of fighters who resisted colonial rule were taken to Britain as trophies and kept in museums

The UK has agreed to repatriate the skeletal remains of Zimbabwean freedom fighters killed by British colonial forces during a 19th-century uprising against white settlers, local media have reported.

The skulls belonging to Zimbabwean rebel chiefs, including spiritual leaders Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi, who led the revolt known as the First Chimurenga between 1896 and 1897, were taken to Britain as war trophies. Talks over their repatriation began more than a decade ago. In 2015, Zimbabwe's then-president, Robert Mugabe, condemned Britain for keeping decapitated heads as war trophies in a national history museum, calling it one of "the highest forms of racist moral decadence, sadism, and human insensitivity."

On Sunday, The Herald quoted Raphael Faranisi, permanent secretary at Harare's Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage, as saying that British museums have agreed to return the remains to Zimbabwe. At least 11 are believed to be held at the Natural History Museum in London, two at the University of Cambridge's Duckworth Laboratory, and others at an unspecified museum in Switzerland.

"We have started the first phase of the process, which we hope will be done in the shortest time possible," Faranisi told the outlet, adding that authorities have discussed building a storage facility to preserve the skulls.

READ MORE: Return 19th century war heroes' remains to Zimbabwe, Mugabe tells UK authorities

The report came weeks after the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage said it had convened a meeting on the "possible repatriation of Zimbabwean human remains still dotted in British museums." In a post on X last month, the ministry said a road map had been established for the recovery process.

Zimbabwe, then Southern Rhodesia, was a British colony from 1923 until independence in 1980, marked by land seizures, forced labor, and brutal crackdowns on resistance, including massacres during the First Chimurenga. The country now marks Heroes Day each August to honor those who fought to end colonial rule.

On Monday, in a speech marking the 45th Heroes Day since independence, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa committed to protecting national sovereignty, declaring that neo-colonialism will never gain a foothold in the country.