The Sunday Mail
Tourism
Charles Mavhunga
Africa’s position in the global world lost its shine when slave traders, colonialists and advocates of apartheid distorted the history of the continent and its people.
Eurocentric projects reduced the African brand to levels of insecurity, instability, disruption of political harmony, erosion of social cohesion and destruction of the economic fabric in various parts of the continent.
The dominance of colonial and apartheid systems disconnected the mentality of Africans from a sense of pride and love for the continent. It created a generational gap that does not cherish Africa’s rich ethnic diversity.
However, the Institute of African Knowledge (INSTAK) mooted the idea of developing the Liberation City in Harare to create a situation where Africans become a global brand.
The INSTAK project plays the role of spearheading strategic intervention to position Africa to become a brand of choice.
The liberation struggles across Africa to destroy Eurocentric projects in the form of colonialism, regionalism, tribalism, slave trade, and apartheid form a key part of the continent’s rich history, which deserves to be recognised.
The Liberation City houses the Museum of African Liberation, the Heritage Village, the Liberation Mall, a five-star hotel, a theme park, presidential villas and scenic walkways, among other structures.
The construction of the Liberation City is, therefore, an epic project that is meant to ensure the African continent’s dignity is restored.
However, remnants of colonialism continue to linger at the continent’s resort centres.
The colonialists created trajectories meant to maintain the colonial legacy on the continent.
They used their power to despise African cultural values, traditional protocols and heritage systems.
They replaced original names of resort centres in Africa with colonial ones.
The foreign powers did this to create ownership of the natural resorts, thereby improve the identity of Eurocentric visibility on the continent.
The whole idea was to ensure the cultural values of black Africans were not recognised in the global world.
In place branding, the name of a resort centre symbolises the cultural heritage, beliefs, values and legacy associated with the area.
The name mirrors the cultural values of the community in the area in terms of the past, the present and the conjoined future of the historical values of the people of Africa.
In addition, the name of the resort centre is testimony to the glory and cultural identity of the community.
It is against this background that colonialists replaced local names of resort centres in Africa with European ones to create a foreign legacy on the continent at the expense of the locals.
The following are some of the resort centres in Zimbabwe that carry the Eurocentric legacy:
Bridal Veil Falls
The resort centre is located within the boundaries of the Chimanimani National Park. The waterfall is famed for its natural beauty but in terms of branding, the name Bridal Veil Falls defies the African values and heritage systems associated with Zimbabwe.
The British ignored the African traditional leadership in the area and named the place Bridal Veil Falls to advance the cause of European values and history on the continent of Africa.
There is no association between the name Bridal Veil Falls with Zimbabwe’s customs and values to advance the sense of Africa’s quest for liberation from the colonial mentality.
Prince of Wales
This is a heritage site in Nyanga, Manicaland province, which offers a panoramic view of the mountains in the area.
The place was named Prince of Wales in recognition of the Prince of Wales, instead of a local chief.
This means the legacy of Africans in the Nyanga community was disregarded.
The colonialists perpetuated the false belief that black Africans in Zimbabwe have no history that is worth recognising.
Victoria Falls
David Livingstone was an explorer who was guided by the Tonga people to see the mighty Mosi-oa-Tunya (Shungu Nyamutitima).
He defied all traditional protocols of the Tonga chiefs and community and changed the name to Victoria Falls in recognition of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
The European values and heritage systems were promoted that way, while the values of the Tonga people were consigned to the dustbin.
The list of resort centres that carry European legacies in Africa is inexhaustible.
For the continent to become strong in terms of cultural identities, common heritage, values and ethics, the decolonisation process should consider the renaming of resort centres to assume the original African names.
Charles Mavhunga co-authored textbooks in business enterprising skills and is currently studying for a PhD in Management at Bindura University. He can be contacted at: [email protected], Cell: 0772989816.
