By Tendai Tagarira
Denmark based Conflict Analyst
(Conflict Analysis. UN Peace University)
I filed an official four billion pounds Hut Tax Claim with the BRITISH GOVERNMENT.
Why?
The British taxpayers recovered all of the £20.3 billion they injected into Lloyds Banking Groupduring the financial crisis. Likewise, the descendants of African taxpayers must also recover their hut tax which was forcibly extorted from their ancestors and injected into the Cecil Rhodes led British South Africa Company, during the colonial crisis in the 19th and 20th century.
Hut tax was an oppressive and unjust taxation whose economic cost on the native peoples of Zimbabwe then called Rhodesia cost them at least £4,000,000,000.00 and that money was never refunded. To understand hut tax, you need to understand a hut. It is made up of mud, wood and thatched with grass and forms the core of an African homestead. It is this structure that the British South African Company taxed 10 shillings per year from the 19th century to the 20th century.
The African people were forced to pay this amount in cash, labour or livestock. British South Africa Company operated its mandate for 34 years from 1890 until 1 April 1924. The economic cost of 10 shillings in 1890 in todays terms is £672.10 per hut per year.
The standard African homestead can have as many as 10 huts, meaning the economic cost impact of HUT TAX per African homestead for the duration of the British South Africa Company mandate (34 years from 1890 until 1 April 1924) was ASTRONOMICAL *almost £4,000,000,000.00 in today’s terms.
This irrefutable evidence concerning this debt owed to the ordinary people of Zimbabwe is detailed in the HISTORIC DATA LEAK titled RHODESIALEAKS
The DOCUMENT can also be found and freely downloaded on the rhodesialeaks website.
This matter was never discussed at Lancaster House because Mugabe and Nkomo did not have the documents. I doubt they were even aware of the information. But I have the original historic documents in my antiquarian archive, irrefutable proof that the ordinary villagers (not Zanu PF or the government) of Zimbabwe are owed billions. I have shareholder certificates issued by Cecil Rhodes, financial statements, shareholders reports etc dating back to the 1800s.
This matter has nothing to do with Zanu PF or Mugabe or MDC. They were not even born when these things happened. It is about all the people of Zimbabwe who are descendants of the ancients who were extorted and impoverished by the British South Africa Company.
The summary bellow explains the outstanding matter of hut tax. *Here is the Economic Cost Calculator used to derive the values in today’s terms.
Financial year ended 31st March 1899
The British South Africa Company (B.S.A.C) collected £70,582.18 of hut tax in 1899, meaning at least 705 821 hutswere under taxation. In todays terms, the economic cost of that £70,582.18 is £75,850,000.00. This hut tax made up 26% of the total Revenue extracted by the British South Africa Company in 1899.
Financial year ended 31st March 1900
The British South Africa Company (B.S.A.C) collected £73,938.12 of hut tax in 1900, meaning at least 739 381 hutswere now under taxation. In todays terms, the economic cost of that £73,938.12 is £76,490,000.00 This hut tax made up 22,74% of the total Revenue extracted by the B.S.A.C in 1900.
Financial year ended 31st March 1901
The British South Africa Company (B.S.A.C) collected £75,340.09 of hut tax in 1901, meaning at least 753 400 hutswere now under taxation. In todays terms, the economic cost of that £75,340.09 is£77,320,000.00 This hut tax made up 18,54% of the total Revenue extracted by the B.S.A.C in 1901. This was the year that Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901. She was the monarch who issued the British South Africa Company ROYAL CHARTER.
Financial year ended 31st March 1902
The British South Africa Company (B.S.A.C) collected £91,571.19 of hut tax in 1902, meaning at least 915 711 hutswere now under taxation. In todays terms, the economic cost of that £91,571.19 is£93,580,000.00 This hut tax made up 20,99% of the total Revenue extracted by the B.S.A.C in 1902. This was the year Cecil Rhodes died on 26 March 1902. As the financial records show on page 11, B.S.A.C spend £4,000.00 on the funeral of Cecil Rhodes, the economic power of that amount being equivalent to £4,088,000.00 today. B.S.A.C also spend £2,800.00 on the Coronation of Edward VII, the economic power of that amount being equivalent to £2,861,000.00 today.
Financial year ended 31st March 1903
The British South Africa Company (B.S.A.C) collected £104,150.08 of hut tax in 1903, meaning at least 1 041 500 huts were now under taxation. In todays terms, the economic cost of that £104,150.08 is £108,000,000.00 This hut tax made up 20,92% of the total Revenue extracted by the B.S.A.C in 1903.
Financial year ended 31st March 1904
The British South Africa Company (B.S.A.C) collected £101,158.09 of hut tax in 1904, meaning at least 1 011 580 huts were now under taxation. In todays terms, the economic cost of that £101,158.09 is £104,700,000.00 This hut tax made up 23,27% of the total Revenue extracted by the B.S.A.C in 1903. Clearly some people were struggling to pay the hut tax evidenced by the slight drop in hut tax revenue compared to the financial year ended 31st March 1903.
Financial year ended 31st March 1905
The British South Africa Company (B.S.A.C) collected £171,624.06 of hut tax in 1905, meaning at least 1 716 240 huts were now under taxation. In todays terms, the economic cost of that £171,624.06 is £171,200,000.00 This hut tax made up 37,87% of the total Revenue extracted by the B.S.A.C in 1905. The jump in the hut tax revenue and also number of huts under taxation in this period suggest a sustained effort by the B.S.A.C to firmly collect as much hut tax as they could. Hut tax had taken its toll on the native people by this time.
Surely, the British Government has a financial and moral obligation to refund Hut Tax to the people of Zimbabwe.
