Harare mayor Mafume endorses Museum of African liberation

Opposition politician says happy to be drafted in after CCC led council previously overlooked

By Caleb Chikwawawa

Harare mayor Jacob Mafume has pledged his council’s support for the construction and completion of the Museum of African Liberation, a multi-million-dollar heritage project bequeathed to the continent by the Zanu PF led government.

Mafume, an opposition CCC councillor, spoke as he led a group of city fathers and staff to the multi-purpose project, built adjacent to the National Heroes Acre in Harare’s Warren Park suburb.

“This is a useful purpose as we know the liberation struggle. For us to be mayors, looking as young as we are, and councillors as young as we are, there are people who had to make sacrifices.

“If they had not made those sacrifices, maybe the colour of your mayor would have been dramatically different.

“We acknowledge, and this is a partnership with council, with government and with the Trust just to put our heritage into perspective.

“As council, we are going to be cooperating as much as we can to allow this process to continue and it is useful for us to come here.”

Mafume continued, “We are happy to be here, as you know this is part of council land. This was part of our dump site.

“It is a dump site which we used for hazardous waste and part of it was to look at how we can reclaim the land and reclaim it in a useful manner.

“As council, we are going to be cooperating as much as we can to allow this process to continue and it is useful for us to come here.

“I was saying to the CEO this other day that you have been inviting MPs, Presidents and you have not been inviting the mayor to see the place yet you are doing the things in my town.

“At least we are here. I have got our councillors for all of us to bring the project into perspective and see how we can reclaim the land into useful project.”

Speaking at the same occasion, museum CEO Kwame Muzawazi also emphasised the importance of working with the local authority.

“We are receiving today the whole Harare City Council, as you know the Liberation City is being built on land that has been traditionally owned by Harare City Council but also they are a key stakeholder in the project.

 “They are the administrators of the city in which we are operating from.

“So, it’s important to engage them and I think the mayor agrees that this is Harare’s emerging premier tourist destination,” Muzawazi said.