Zimbabwean president calls for efforts to preserve African history

HARARE, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) — Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Sunday urged African countries to ensure that the continent’s history is accurately documented and secured to prevent historical inaccuracies.
Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Liberation Square at the Museum of African Liberation in the national capital of Harare, Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe will continue to deploy resources towards the institutionalization of African narratives and perspectives on the decolonization of the continent.
“We are aware that the history of our continent has been and continues to be deliberately distorted to suit the parochial interests of our former erstwhile colonial masters,” said Mnangagwa during the ceremony which was also attended by some of the SADC countries’ leaders.
The Museum of African Liberation, which is still under construction in Harare, is situated on a 103-hectare site known as Liberation City.
The Liberation City, which will be constructed in different phases, will house the Liberation Museum as the main attraction and will also include a five-star hotel, an animal park, and various national monuments including a heritage village. Groundbreaking of the Museum took place in December 2020, but construction started in 2022. The construction work is expected to take two years.
Mnangagwa, who assumed the SADC chairmanship at the 44th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Harare Saturday, said it is the responsibility of this generation to ensure that the important phase in the history of Africa is accurately documented and secured.
“This museum is an affirmation of the liberation struggles of the African continent. It should ultimately be the custodian and embodiment of all that which characterized respective countries, the decolonization of our region and the entire African continent, including the African Diaspora,” he said, stressing that exhibitions that showcase the heroic struggles of the African people and the victories registered against colonialism will be displayed at the museum.
Spaces will also be dedicated to non-African countries such as China and Russia that played a role in fighting colonialism.
In addition, the Zimbabwean government availed a hectare of land to SADC member states to construct a monument of the struggle against colonialism.
The SADC, with its headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana, is an intergovernmental organization comprising 16 member states. Zimbabwe assumed the rotating presidency in August 2024. ■