Zim gives Namibia land for museum project

Zim Now Writer

Zimbabwe has given Namibia one acre of land for the construction of an outdoor monument at the Pan-African Memorial Park and Museum of African Liberation to honour its emancipation from the South African apartheid government.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s special representative Ambassador Simbarashe Mumbengegwi delivered the message to Namibian President Hage Geingob yesterday at State House.

Zimbabwe commenced the construction of the Museum of African Liberation that is dedicated to all fallen veterans of the continent’s liberation wars and is also meant to document wars that were fought for self-governance on the continent.

“I am pleased to say, Your Excellency, that the government of Zimbabwe is offering 4 400 square metres of space for Namibia to erect a monument commemorating Namibia’s independence from South Africa’s apartheid government. The memorial park will have a number of monuments,” Mumbengegwi told Geingob.

“We will have a world-class shopping mall within the complex, 20 hectares of an animal park, 20 hectares of an amusement park, and a heritage village in the memorial park,” he said.

The Pan-African Memorial Park will also have a section for those in the diaspora to commemorate the link between Africa and those of African origin who have left it.

The Namibian President said the initiative was good as Africans would be telling their own stories.

“Sounds good. People want us to forget about our history. They are working hard trying to talk that we are backwards, and we are not moving forward. But let us not be discouraged; let’s go ahead and tell our glorious history,” Geingob noted.

The museum, a two-year project being funded by different African countries, will span over 100 hectares and will cost over US$20 million.

A number of amenities such as a five-star hotel, an amusement park, a Zimbabwe Defence Forces Exhibition Park, zoo and a shopping mall are expected to support the museum.