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Herald Reporter

President Mnangagwa’s special envoy on the Museum of African Liberation, Ambassador Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, has updated the President on progress made on the pan-African project which is aimed at documenting the continent’s struggle for political and economic emancipation. 

Ambassador Mumbengegwi has to date engaged nearly 20 countries as part of the Second Republic’s drive to engender international cooperation in the implementation of the project.

Ambassador Mumbengegwi this week presented to President Mnangagwa, a report on his latest engagements with the heads of secretariats of the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc).

The Museum of African Liberation is the brainchild of the Institute of African Liberation (INSTAK) and is part of the institute’s 103-hectare Liberation City in western Harare.

President Mnangagwa has designated INSTAK’S Liberation City, a priority project, and has appointed Ambassador Mumbengegwi, Zimbabwe’s former Foreign Affairs Minister, as his special envoy to cultivate transnational collaboration on its implementation.

On January 25 2024, Ambassador Mumbengegwi met the chairperson of the African Union, Commission, Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and delivered a special message from President Mnangagwa. Accompanying the Special Envoy was the chief executive officer of INSTAK, Ambassador Kwame Muzawazi.

At the meeting at the AU headquarters, Mr Mahamat and Ambassador Mumbengegwi discussed how the continental body could collaborate with INSTAK on taking the Museum of African Liberation forward.

The museum project, as well as another signature INSTAK undertaking — The Africa Factbook — dovetails with AU development aspirations as captured in Agenda 2063 within the context of the Great African Museum and Encyclopaedia Africana.

After the fruitful discussions between Mr Mahamat and Ambassador Mumbengegwi, the Special Envoy presented the AU Commission chair with a Presidential edition of the Africa Factbook.

On January 29 2024, the Special Envoy and Ambassador Muzawazi were in Gaborone, Botswana to engage Sadc executive secretary Mr Elias Magosi on how the regional bloc could participate in the Museum of African Liberation.

Ambassador Mumbengegwi delivered a special message from President Mnangagwa, and also presented Mr Magosi with a Draft Memorandum of Understanding to guide collaboration on the museum project.

The special envoy conveyed Zimbabwe’s desire for all Sadc countries to participate in the Museum of African Liberation, highlighting that the project was in line with the bloc’s objective to enhance and consolidate the historical, social and cultural heritage of the region’s peoples.

“Magosi highlighted that the project resonates with the region’s objectives, amongst others the operationalisation of the mechanism to recognise and honour the founders of Sadc for their contribution to the establishment of the organisation and pursuit of regional integration,” a report on the Sadc website says.

The report also said, “In this regard, further engagements regarding the project and MoU, as well as follow-ups, will be conducted between Sadc and INSTAK in collaboration with the Zimbabwean Embassy in Botswana.”