Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. FORMER African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has called for museums across Africa to be accessible to all, saying no one should be excluded from learning about the continent’s history as a result of financial barriers.
Speaking after touring the Liberation City in Harare, Dhlamini-Zuma praised the Institute of African Knowledge (INSTAK) for including commercial ventures in the development to help subsidise the Museum of African Liberation.
The Liberation City is part of the Museum of African Liberation situated on a 103-hectare site. It will house the museum as the main attraction and will include a five-star hotel, an amusement park, a theme park, an animal park and national monuments, including a heritage village among many recreational and amusement facilities.
“I also like the concept of having commercial ventures that support the museum because the museum must be very cheap for people to come in, so that nobody can say, ‘I want to go to the museum, but I don’t have money to pay’. So I think it’s an excellent idea, I am very impressed,” she said.
Dlamini-Zuma emphasised the importance of making African heritage and history widely accessible, particularly for younger generations, saying museums play a vital role in preserving identity and telling the story of the continent’s liberation.
“This is a fantastic project, because Africa must have its story, its history,” she said.
“What I also like is that it is being built by Africans in Zimbabwe.
“We’re not asking people from other continents to come and build it for us. We’re building it ourselves.”
Dlamini-Zuma, who served as the AU’s first female chairperson from 2012 to 2017, toured the site alongside INSTAK chief executive officer Kwame Muzawazi.
Muzawazi highlighted Dlamini-Zuma’s long-standing support for INSTAK, including her leadership role in the endorsement and publication of the Africa Factbook, the first-ever comprehensive reference on over 1 000 years of African history.
“Her endorsement today of the work we are doing here, with the support of His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the government of Zimbabwe, emboldens us and encourages us to go further and do more for Africans everywhere,” he said.
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