Sebakwe River
Sebakwe River or Zibagwe River is a river in Zimbabwe. Sebakwe River is located in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. It has a length straight line from source to mouth, and is a tributary of Munyati River which it joins in Zhombe East at . Sebakwe River descends from the south-western heel of Mtoro Hill (elevation 1580m) north-east of Chivhu. It then flows south-westerly, east of Chivhu and west of The Range. Background The name Sebakwe is a distortion of the name Zibagwe meaning a very large maize plant or cob. The other version of the originality of the name say it derives from the name "Chiwake meaning 'that which is built up', referring to a barrier built during the Rebellion". Presently the name "Zibagwe" prevails. There is a legend orally transmitted that tells how the name Zibagwe came about. It says Zibagwe which is a ChiShona name for " a very large maize plant or cob" was given when local people visited to scavenge the camp that the European explorers had set for months. The said explorers had just left the camp to a destination further north into Mashonaland. Locals found a very large maize plant with very large cobs at the abandoned camp. Even though they had come treasure hunting for whatever the White men could have left behind, no one touched the tempting maize plant because it was by the camp urinal, well fertilized by urine. The said maize plant was there for a long time, and because it was on the river bank, they called the river as "kuZibagwe" meaning "at the extra-large-maize plant". Though not officially stated it is thought that the Zibagwe "Urinal" Maize Plant encouraged the ecological experimental toilets project carried out in Zimbabwe a few years ago. A 3-year research project using diluted urine as fertilizer was conducted in Epworth, Harare (2008-2010) and the results were very positive. (The whole book shows how the application of diluted urine on plants can be very effective on plant growth.) Little Sebakwe River The main Sebakwe River flows into the Munyati River. There is another Sebakwe River known as Little Sebakwe River which has a length of 7.6 kilometres, and is entirely in Mashonaland East Province. Unlike the main Sebakwe River it flows easterly into Nyazvidzi River, the Save River drainage basin. Little Sebakwe passes north of Dombo hill (elevation 1455m) and south of Dowa hill (elevation 1386m) on its course towards Nyazvidzi River. It meets Nyazvidzi River south-east of St Kizito School in what was known as Eastdale Tribal Trust Land. Historical operations Sebakwe River has a rich history. It seems Kwekwe, then spelt Que Que was called Sebakwe before the assumption of the name Que Que. In the sixteenth century a Portuguese explorer, Fernandes, camped on the banks of the Sebakwe River not{convert|5|mi|km} from Kwekwe. King Lobengula had some reefs along Sebakwe River marked as his claims in September 1890 The land in which Sebakwe River passed through was known as Sebakwe District.