The Sunday Mail
Organisers of the Harare International Carnival (HIC) keep giving conflicting signals on this year’s edition of the event. As it stands, the majority of the event’s stakeholders are not certain if the annual jamboree will go ahead this year. During a presentation to theNational Defence College officers early this month, the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Dr Walter Mzembi announced “new and revised dates” for the carnival as December 2.
“ . . . so in the tourism sector, my ultimate goal is to deliver happiness (through) our one such show, our carnival, which is coming on December 2. If you (Defence College officers) are around, you will see two million people enjoying themselves momentarily just forgetting about their troubles,” said Minister Mzembi. However, the announcement has not in any way helped create the hype that usually follows such communication.
And the media and public at large can be pardoned for this downbeat response. The HIC dates have been shifted not once but thrice this year alone. Initially, the fête was supposed to be held around March. However, the carnival was moved to September, ostensibly running away from the chilly weather that characterise the first quarter of the year. September came, but the event was moved yet again to October before being moved to December.
Lack of funding and the need to accommodate both local and foreign participants have been given as the reasons for the shifts.
Will the 2016 edition of HIC ever see daylight? Last week, acting Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive Givemore Chidzidzi could not shed light on the carnival preparations and the newly announced dates.
“Mr Kaseke (Karikoga) is out of the country and I was not in the office since that meeting in which the minister announced December 2 as the new carnival date.
“The carnival matter is currently being handled by the ministry (Tourism) which is working closely with Mr Kaseke. I think the chief executive (Kaseke) can give you a proper update on the issue when he returns,” said Chidzidzi.
However, investigations revealed that the postponements are due to the fact that the ZTA and the Tourism ministry are failing to find common ground. Information at hand indicates that a number of management staff at the tourism authority are against hosting the carnival this year while Minister Mzembi wants it on without fail.
The minister is gunning for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) top post next year and presumably the event will be one of the many boosts on his curriculum vitae should it take place. As earlier reported, a title sponsor for the carnival has already been secured by the organisers and therefore the difference in opinion has nothing to do with funding.
In fact, the organisers of the jamboree have since revised their initial budget to the ministry by more than half following the coming on board of the yet to be named title sponsor. Speaking in an earlier interview, Kaseke confirmed the tiff.
“We are agonising about the carnival. A lot of people, not just media, are calling us asking about the carnival because we have gone silent on the fiesta. But what actually made us silent was the disturbing security situation that was caused by protests,” explained Kaseke.
“When I met with my management team (in September) I was out-voted. Everyone in my team (management), excluding me, voted against having a carnival this year citing security concerns. We cannot package conflict. I’m confident though that we can still have the event this year. If the minister feels we can have the carnival like I’m also advocating for, I’m sure we will have the carnival. But indeed we are in dilemma,” said the ZTA chief executive.
Kaseke further revealed that their secured sponsor was one of the major reasons for missing the September and October dates.
“We had initially asked for US$450 000 but we have drastically revised the figure to about US$250 000 because we have secured a number of sponsors. One big local sponsor came to us and want to be named the title sponsor. These sponsors, together with my management are the ones that are raising fears and have asked us to postpone the carnival so that they get a chance to assess the situation.”
“If the minister wants the carnival this year, it will have to be end of November spilling into December. Yes, there are fears of rains but the rains are good for the carnival as has been evident in countries like Germany,” said Kaseke.
