On this day in 1888, the Rudd Concession was signed. The Rudd Concession was an agreement between Charles Rudd together with his negotiators and Lobengula. Charles Rudd had been sent by Cecil Joh Rhodes who feared Lobengula would cancel the Moffat Treaty which had been signed earlier on.
After being tricked into signing the Rudd Concession, Lobengula was advised by his Boer friends that he had basically sold the country. He immediately sent two of his officers to plead with the Queen of England so that the Concession would be reversed but this was not fruitful. So on this day he decided to sent a letter to the Queen to inform her that he no longer agreed to the terms of the Rudd Concession.
After signing the Rudd Concession, Cecil John Rhodes rushed to London to seek a charter for the occupation (colonisation) of modern day Zimbabwe. Rhodes won the support of the London’s leaders and further offered to his personal fortune to occupy Zimbabwe. He then went to SA and organised the Pioneer Column, which would be the first group to enter Zimbabwe with the intention to actually occupy. They entered Zimbabwe through Maklautsi river to avoid the resistance of the Ndebele. They firstly establised Fort Victoria (modern day Masvingo) and Fort Charter (modern day Chivhu) before hoisting the British flag at Fort Victoria.