GZU applauded for promoting local culture Reverend Damasane
Reverend Damasane

Reverend Damasane

Leroy Dzenga Herald Correspondent
principal director in the Ministry of Rural Development, Preservation of Culture and National Heritage Reverend Paul Damasane has praised Great Zimbabwe University for its role in the preservation of local culture and heritage. In his address during the Dzimbahwe Arts and Culture Festival in Masvingo last week, Rev Damasane said the GZU had been impressive in showcasing the country’s local culture.

“I am impressed that Great Zimbabwe has taken the mandate to promote our culture as African people, he said.

“In the age where some of the educated are choosing to stray from our values, you have decided to stay resolute in upholding our identity as Africans, that is commendable.” Rev Damasane urged other institutions to emulate GZU in moulding graduates who respected African ways of life and values. Government has since introduced a new policy that will see cultural studies being taught from as early as ECD up to tertiary level.

Rev Damasane added: “There is need for us as Africans to promote our own cultural values. If we do not tell our own stories, who will? If we haven’t spoken about our own ways of life, then we have not started saying anything as a people.” His comments were in line with the festival’s 10th anniversary theme ‘‘Ubuntu’’, a Afrocentric philosophy that seeks to promote African values.

This year’s 10th edition of Dzimbahwe saw Ubuntu-themed academic symposiums, artistic exhibitions and student workshops being conducted across Masvingo over three days. Notable academics who attended the symposium included Dr Sekai Nzenza, Professor Musayemura Zimunya and other respect voices in the Zimbabwean cultural dialogue.

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