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Joseph Madzimure

Senior Reporter

Construction of the multi-million-dollar Museum of African Liberation project is expected to start this year after the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works awarded the tender for architectural works and construction.

Architrave Design Group has won the tender for designs at the construction site.

The Museum of African Liberation will allow Africans to tell their own history, putting to rest, one-sided Eurocentric narratives which have dominated the public space.

The continental project is meant to document, preserve, protect and promote the continent’s liberation legacy.

In an interview, the museum’s head of secretariat, Ambassador Kwame Muzawazi confirmed the latest development saying construction would start this year.

“The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works has completed the tender process of procuring the services of an architecture and construction company. Architrave Design Group have been selected to do the work.

“It’s a multi-million-dollar project. I can’t give you the actual figures,” said Ambassador Muzawazi.

The project will be funded by African countries and non-African countries.

Ambassador Muzawazi said some countries had come on board supporting the project and other non-African countries like China, Russia and Cuba became part of the project through their embassies.

He said the history of Zimbabwe was linked to other countries which assisted the country during the struggle.

Ambassador Muzawazi said African countries were consulting with their respect governments on how they could raise funds for the project.

“We are going to have a meeting with all African countries sometime in March or April this year where we expect to get responses from member states. We want to speed up the process to ensure we complete the project.”

Liberation artefacts belonging to former Vice Presidents Simon Muzenda and Joseph Msika and liberation icons Cdes Josiah Tongogara and Leopold Takawira, among others, were presented to President Mnangagwa to be displayed in the museum.

Artefacts for other liberation icons from the African continent such as Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s founding President and Ghana’s founding president, Kwame Nkrumah, are also expected to be on display.

Giving an update on artefacts for other liberation icon from African continent, Ambassador Muzawazi said: “I am aware that artefacts of Namibian founding President Sam Nujoma and Africa’s founding father former Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah are expected in the country any time soon.

“At first we proposed end of January 2021 as the deadline to submit artefacts, but it has been affected by Covid-19 lockdown. We have extended the dates for submission indefinitely.”

Through learning from the history of the continent, the time had come for Africans to consciously defend their interests as a people and never give in to the machinations of neo-colonial forces in all their guises.

Flags of all African countries have been hoisted at the venue and the project is being jointly pursued by the Government of Zimbabwe and the Institute of African Knowledge (Instak).