First Lady lays development plan for Heritage Village

. . . African traditions, cuisines to be showcased

ENVIRONMENT and Tourism Patron First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, who was recently conferred patron of the Heritage Village at the giant Liberation City which is under construction in Harare, yesterday hit the ground running by convening a stakeholders meeting to lay a solid development strategy.

The recognition is in support of her sterling efforts in reviving the country’s traditional values and norms.

The Liberation City, which houses the Museum of African Liberation, gives every African country a slot to exhibit mementos from the struggle against colonialism.

This is a dedication to all fallen veterans of the continent’s liberation wars and is meant to document wars fought in Africa in its quest for self-governance.

Other facilities include the Animal Park, Defence Forces Exhibition Park, the Recreation Park, a hotel, a shopping mall and the Heritage Village.

At the Heritage Village, there are kitchens and cubicles where various nationalities of various African states will showcase their traditions and cuisines.

There is also an Afrocentric dining where themed dinners from various countries will be served.

A place has been set up at the village for countries to showcase and sell their traditional artefacts.

Stakeholders at yesterday’s first of its kind encounter to map the way forward in developing the site into a top of the range tourist hub included the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, the Environmental Management Agency, Institute of African Knowledge and ZimParks, among others.

Chief executive of the Institute of African Knowledge (Instak) Ambassador Kwame Muzavazi expressed gratitude to the First Lady for accepting the offer to be the organisation’s founding patron of the Heritage Village which is one of the facilities in the Liberation City.

He said there are many ways to communicate, not just through politics, but through culture and heritage.

“The First Lady has become the patron of the Heritage Village which was an initiative of the board of trustees of the Institute of African Knowledge led by our chairman Professor Simbi Mubako and other six trustees from other African countries that found it fit to say Amai must lead the process of the revival of the African spirit, African culture, African heritage as is the agenda of the Heritage Village.

“The Heritage Village is existing next to the Liberation Mall, the Museum of African Liberation, the Animal Park, the Recreation Park, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Exhibition Park at the Liberation City. This aspect focuses on culture, on heritage, on our history, on who we are as a people of our nation. So we really are grateful for that,” he said.

The discussions with the First Lady, Ambassador Muzavazi said, were inter-departmental and inter disciplinary with representatives from the Ministries of Tourism and Hospitality industry as well as the Ministry of Environment on how best these two ministries and the Instak can collaborate in making sure that the Liberation City becomes a responsible, referable tourist destination that ticks all the boxes .

Herself a hard worker and goal-oriented person, the First Lady implored all stakeholders to put their shoulders to the wheel and work for the success of the project.

“This museum is the first-of-its-kind in our country as it has history of liberation movements of other nations. As Zimbabwe,are we now fully geared and prepared for this big project. What is it that we have received so far in order to receive more from other countries.

“What have we put on the table as Zimbabwe in terms of our history and culture portraying who are we as a nation. The other countries involved expect us to do more for our own history. Their history is supposed to land on a level ground that we would have worked on,” the First Lady said.

She spoke on the need to market the project aggressively in all four corners of the country to ensure no one and no place is left behind.

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