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Charles Mavhunga
The Museum of African Liberation in Harare houses a collection of artefacts and materials from all African countries that waged armed struggles to liberate themselves from the deadly effects of slave trade, colonialism and apartheid systems.
Africa’s liberation war heroes sacrificed their lives to fight white supremacy and Eurocentric projects in Africa, whose objective was to bar African people from contributing to human civilisation and progress.
The struggle to liberate Africa remains an ongoing programme considering that the Eurocentric projects had done a lot of damage to the mindset of Africans for more than three centuries.
Africa lost its brand, resources, dignity and status in the world because the Eurocentric episodes of slave trade, colonisation and apartheid sought to destroy the continent.
However, the efforts of African liberation war heroes caused a turnaround to the Eurocentric drive. Such great work by the heroes deserves respect in tourism branding.
The following are highlights of episodes of the Eurocentric project that terrorised the African brand to become blurred:
The slave trade
The period between the 14th and 19th centuries exposed Africa to four major slave trade episodes. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was the largest and best-known programme. Under this programme, slaves were shipped from West Africa, West Central Africa and East Africa to European colonies.
More than 20 million slaves were captured in Africa through raids and warfare. Researchers in the history and development of Africa have established that slave trade contributed to the deterioration and fragmentation of political, economic, social, technological legal institutions in Africa.
Slave trade contributed significantly to Africa’s underdevelopment. African states that are poorest in the world today are the ones from which the largest number of slaves were taken to develop Europe. The majority of researchers in the academic world have concluded that Africa’s poor performance in the world today can be explained by its history, which is largely characterised by over 400 years of slave raiding.
The slave trade programme caused Africa’s depopulation, created a culture of mistrust and promoted disunity among the people of Africa. The African brand was left in ruins.
However, through the resilience of the revolutionary war fighters, today, the African image is being reshaped. Some of the African states are even seeking a seat in the United Nations Security Council.
The heroes of Africa engaged in a spirited fight to restore order on the continent, and the fight is still ongoing because the Eurocentric project — slave trade — was deadly and deep-rooted.
No wonder the recognition of Africa’s liberation war fighters by the Museum of African Liberation in Harare. Africa must earn a dignified position in the global arena.
The colonisation project
When the slave trade was banned in 1808, the next project to destroy Africa was colonisation. The Berlin Conference in 1884 portioned Africa into states that were shared among the chief players, namely, France, Germany, Great Britain and Portugal, among others.
The major focus was to parcel African resources to develop European countries.
The colonisation project created negatives in Africa such as resource depletion, labour exploitation, unfair taxation, lack of industrialisation, prohibition of trade and the break-up of traditional African societal values, lack of political development and ethnic rivals.
However, African nationalists such as Joshua Nkomo, Herbert Chitepo, Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Samora Machel and Nelson Mandela emerged as heroes to fight the colonists.
The sacrifice made by the African heroes to end colonialism deserves recognition in the tourism industry.
For a example, in Zimbabwe, more than 10 000 people died in refugee camps such as Chimoio, Tembwe and Nyadzonia. Others perished in combat in the country as the war raged.
The sacrifice made by the heroes was immense and deserves space in tourism to restore the dignity of the African brand in the global arena.
The apartheid project
The apartheid system was also another project in Africa whose target was to destroy the continent’s image in the global arena. Apartheid was a racial government system in South Africa between the periods 1948-1994. The system created separate residential areas for black South Africans and whites. The two groups were to use separate public facilities and contact between them was limited.
Apartheid created labour and market policies that were segregatory, and destroyed social and cultural institutions in South Africa.
Black South Africans feel inferior to the whites even today because of the impact of the racial policies during apartheid. The policies condemned black South Africans to a life of poverty in their own country, and promoted the “supremacy” of the whites.
The dignity of the blacks was lost. However, South African heroes, namely, Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu, among others, had to sacrifice their lives to liberate the black South Africans. Mandela spent 28 years in jail and remained resolute to ensure the removal of the deadly apartheid regime in the country. The contribution of such heroes in South Africa deserves space at the Museum of African Liberation in the tourism industry.
Emerging heroes in Zimbabwe for Africa
In the march towards the attainment of globalisation of the image of the African continent, Zimbabwe is producing new heroes who are doing wonders in terms of image building.
Chief among the players making a contribution to image building of the African continent is First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, the founder of the Angel of Hope Foundation, who received the Jairos Jiri Humanitarian Award in Gold for the following philanthropic work:
Reduction of early child marriages
Reduction of drug and substances abuse
Integration of marginalised societies
Keeping traditional values and norms: Nhanga/Gota programme
Monetary relief efforts for Covid-19 and Cyclone Idai victims
Another luminary in Africa who received the Order of the Great Zimbabwe in Gold was virologist Dr Sikhulile Moyo for his discovery of the Omicron Covid-19 variant in November 2021. Next was Dr Mary Mubi (Order of the Star of Zimbabwe in Gold), and Dr Agnes Mahomva (Order of the Star of Zimbabwe in Silver) for the successful coordination of Covid-19 responses at national level. The emerging heroes deserve space at the Museum of African Liberation because of their role in transforming the lives of people in Africa. Africa is thirsty for heroes who can make a contribution to improve its image that was shattered historically by slave traders, colonialists and apartheid. The museum is ready to promote African heroes who are committed to the progress of the continent.
Charles Mavhunga co-authored textbooks in business enterprising skills and is currently studying for a PhD in Management at Bindura University. He can be contacted at: charles.mavhunga @gmail.com Cell 0772989816.
Online Reporter