The Sunday Mail
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Engineer Walter Mzembi says he will soon table his ambitious dream for Zimbabwe to possibly bid to host the 2034 FIFA Soccer World Cup to fellow Southern African nations in addition to eventually taking the plan to Cabinet.
Zimbabwe will seek the support at the Regional Tourism Organisation for Southern Africa (Retosa) Council of Ministers meeting, which the country will host in September. This will be a month after Zimbabwe hosts the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government.
Eng Mzembi is the current Retosa chair, an organ that promotes tourism at regional level.
“One step that we are going to take is to table the idea (of hosting the World Cup) as one of the agenda items at the Retosa Summit in September. We are the current chair of Retosa and we are going to host the summit.
“We have an advantage where we need to set the agenda and be in the driving seat so that we frog-march this organisation into action,” he said.
The minister said the plan to host of the mega football tournament involved drumming up public support, both locally and internationally, and then seeking Cabinet endorsement.
“We will not take the matter to Cabinet now because there are many ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. The plan involves first getting public support so that we guarantee the idea and securitise it with the people’s will. What we are doing now is to mentally ring-fence the idea in the mind of the international public to sign post it and say that we have an intent.
“Ring-fencing it mentally is our role for now. We have to sound it at all grassroots levels now before we distill it for policy consumption at the highest level.”
Eng Mzembi said bidding for the World Cup was a timely decision as the country had assumed leadership of reputable international organisations such as the African Union, SADC and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNTWO). Zimbabwe last year co-hosted the UNWTO General Assembly with Zambia to much acclaim.
President Mugabe will assume Chairmanship of SADC next month, and could head the AU next year as he is currently the continental bloc’s First Deputy Chair.
“It is our season of leadership so we have to have self-belief. It is important to dream big and believe in possibilities rather than impossibilities.
“Some people have been saying we should look at hosting AFCON (Africa Cup of Nations) first, but my answer is we need to dream big. When you dream, you cannot dream half-way,” Eng Mzembi said.
He said his ministry would activate the Convention Bureau to explore strategies for hosting major international events. The minister said successfully hosting Brazil’s national football team, the UNWTO General Assembly, the Harare International Carnival and other globally-recognised events indicated it was possible to bring the World Cup here. “The preliminary structure is already there at the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, so we are now going to seek authority from Cabinet and the Civil Service Commission to activate (the Convention Bureau) into a proper structure,” he said.
