Major Africa Day Exhibition for Harare

24 May, 2015 - 00:05 0 Views
Major Africa Day Exhibition for Harare

The Sunday Mail

A major exhibition will take place in Harare on Africa Day to commemorate the 50th anniversary of President Mugabe and Vice-President Joshua Nkomo’s detention during the liberation struggle.

Ambassador Chipo Zindoga,Malawian ambassador Jane Kambalame,Saharawi Arab Demo  cratic Republic ambassador Mohamed Chief Saleh follow proceedings during a modelling show which is part of a built up towards Afrca day at Harare gardens - Picture by Munyaradzi Chamalimba

Ambassador Chipo Zindoga,Malawian ambassador Jane Kambalame,Saharawi Arab Demo cratic Republic ambassador Mohamed Chief Saleh follow proceedings during a modelling show which is part of a built up towards Afrca day at Harare gardens – Picture by Munyaradzi Chamalimba

The event also celebrates Tanzania’s mammoth role in liberating the continent from colonialism.

And female African ambassadors accredited to Zimbabwe will commemorate the day while pinning their hopes for women’s upliftment on African Union and Sadc Chair President Mugabe.

The exhibition – organised by historical heritage preservists Friends of Joshua Trust (FJT) and themed “Betrayal, Denial and Banishment” – will largely be artistic, with a recreation of Sikombela and Gonakudzingwa detention centres where Cdes Mugabe and Nkomo were held, respectively, in the 1960s.

Three-dimensional images of the site show how the organisers have set up structures similar to those at the centres.

Rare photographs of President Mugabe, VP Nkomo and Brigadier-General Hashim Mbita – the Organisation of African Unity’s Liberation Committee chair – will be on display in halls of fame.

FJT creative director Mr Rayban Sengwayo said: “The exhibition will run for 10 days, beginning May 25. Basically, we are trying to tell to the story of our liberation struggle. We will have two halls of fame: one for President Mugabe and the other for the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo.

“The exhibition is dedicated to the late founding secretary of the liberation committee, Retired Brigadier-General Hashim Mbita, who passed away this year. We will also have a Hall of Fame for the founding fathers of the liberation struggle like Kwame Nkurumah, Julius Nyerere and many others.

“There will be a Hall of Fame for women who contributed to the liberation struggle such as Amai Sally Mugabe, Mama Mafuyana and Winnie Mandela.”

President Mugabe and VP Nkomo were detained for 11 years and 10-and-a-half years, respectively, for opposing Ian Smith’s colonial regime.

Their release and that of other nationalist leaders triggered renewed vigour in the liberation movement, which went on to defeat the settler government in 1980.

Tanzania – led by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere – was key in liberating Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries as it provided training bases, facilitated arms supplies and organised the struggle under the OAU Liberation Committee, chaired by the iconic Brig-Gen Mbita.

Female ambassadors, who attended a women’s empowerment exhibition in Harare yesterday, were optimistic President Mugabe would get the AU to fully empower women.

Ambassador Jane Ngineriwa Kambalame of Malawi, said: “The President of Zimbabwe is now the Chairperson of the AU – not only Sadc, but the AU. We are, as African ambassadors, confident that he will really focus on issues that matter on the continent.

“Africa’s focus this year is on women’s empowerment. To check progress, we have set our goals and want to determine what needs to be done.”

Namibia’s Ambassador Balbina Daes Pienaar added: “There are clear signs, like the exhibition here, that African women can do things for themselves. This really show that, as women, we can empower ourselves if we work as a unit, we can progress in our countries and the continent. However, we need support from our leaders so that we can improve the welfare of women.”

Zimbabwe’s ex-chief diplomat to Namibia and now senior official in the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ambassador Chipo Zindoga, said President Mugabe stood for empowerment and peace.

“The President is a man who has always had sympathy for and empathy with women. He can also do for Africa what he has done for us in this country. We now have a lot of women in mining, farming and other sectors, which were deemed suitable for men, and it’s all because of him.

“We have war in some pockets of Africa and that burdens women the most. So, in President Mugabe we have a leader who can restore peace on the continent and when that happens, the environment becomes conducive for women empowerment.”

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds