Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THREE municipalities from neighbouring countries are expected to attend the conferment of city status to Victoria Falls Municipality tomorrow.
Victoria Falls Municipality town clerk, Mr Ronnie Dube, said the local authority had invited Livingstone Municipality from neighbouring Zambia as well as Francistown and Kasane municipalities from Botswana.
Victoria Falls and Livingstone, Zambia’s second largest city, share similar background not only as part of former colonial Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland but also because people found on either side of the Zambezi River are from the same cultural backgrounds.
Victoria Falls has a twinning relationship with Botswana’s second largest city, Francistown which dates back to about four years ago while Kasane is a key tourism town about 80km away in Botswana.
President Mnangagwa is expected to officially confer the municipality with city status with the local authority also planning to present him with Freedom of the City honours on the same day for his contribution to the town’s growth into a city.
Freedom of the City is the highest honour bestowed by a municipality to a valuable member of the community or to a visiting dignitary and it was historically an honour granted to military organisations allowing them the privilege to freely parade the city.
It will be the first such honour to be given to anyone by the municipality in the history of the town and the first for President Mnangagwa as Head of State.
The municipality also recently conferred alderman status to former mayor Nkosilathi Jiyane for serving the local authority for more than 10 years.
The city status is a milestone and prestigious achievement for Victoria Falls which becomes the first municipality to be upgraded by the Second Republic and first city in Matabeleland North.
The resort town will assume prestige that is reserved for cities and now competes with other tourism destinations globally, including neighbouring Livingstone and Kasane which have been enjoying unmatched competition with regards to tourism.
This will also make the tourism town a well sought after investment destination, with potential for more twinning relationships with other cities around the world.
The city fathers and residents are excited about the development which they believe will help expand industry and create more jobs for the town whose economy was solely dependent on tourism.
Said Mr Dube: “We have invited Livingstone, Kasane and Francistown municipalities. We have invited them as our neighbours while we have a twinning relationship with Francistown Municipality.”
Victoria Falls mayor Councillor Somveli Dlamini said preparations are at an advanced stage.
“We are ready for the function and a lot of preparatory work has been done including securing the venue. All logistics are being worked on and invitations have been sent out,” he said.
Parliament two months ago approved that Victoria Falls be granted city status after recommendation by a commission set by Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo three years ago.
This comes as Government has shown commitment to transform the province, particularly Victoria Falls which was designated a Special Economic Zone with special focus on tourism.
Government wants to make Victoria Falls its conferencing capital and plans to build a multi-purpose convention centre with top-notch facilities such as five-star hotels, medical centre, a university, a Zimbabwe Defence Forces camp and sporting facilities.
There are plans through the Development Plan to improve infrastructure in the town to match world tourism destination standards as well as development the Victoria Falls-Hwange-Binga Special Economic Zone comprising Masue and Batoka satellite towns, Hwange, Mlibizi, Binga and Sijalila along the Zambezi corridor.
Government recently launched the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX) which is also expected to lure investors.
Victoria Falls had 33 000 people in 2012 when the last census was held and population is estimated to have grown to about 40 000. — @ncubeleon
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