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Walter Mswazie in Masvingo

TOURIST arrivals in Masvingo are expected to increase by at least 30 percent by the end of the year following the completion of Kamungoma Liberation War Shrine in Gutu last month, an official has said.

National Museum and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) provincial director, Mr Lovemore Mandima, said the province was enjoying good fortunes on tourist arrivals, both domestic and intentional with South Africa constituting the largest chunk in foreign arrivals. He singled out one of the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Great Zimbabwe Monument, as the most frequently visited facility in the province, despite a sharp decline of visitors in the first quarter.

He said the rehabilitation of Kamungoma into a state-of-the-art heritage site, would add value to the province’s marketing strategy, in the context of devolution.

“Last year only, we had more that 70 000 paying visitors for the Great Zimbabwe Monument alone. Now that we have completed the rehabilitation of Kamungoma shrine, visitation to the monuments is expected to increase by at least 30 percent,” said Mr Mandima.

He urged locals and the outside world to visit the province’s attractions and assured them of value for their money.

“From January to end of March, Great Zimbabwe monuments only received 6 600 visitors, both foreign and domestic who include school pupils. There is a decrease of at least 4 000 visitors as compared to last year’s 10 000 during the same period. However, we expect the arrivals to improve as foreign visitors find our rates affordable given their strong currencies, especially the United States dollar and the rand from South Africa,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Mandima said plans to rehabilitate Gonakudzingwa Restriction Camp at Sango Border Post in Chiredzi on the border with Mozambique were at an advanced stage. He said his department had finished the mapping of the site and will soon present a nomination dossier to the relevant authorities for consideration so that it could be declared a national liberation war heritage site.

“The document, which spells out a statement of significance of Gonakudzingwa liberation shrine, is complete. We will present it to the powers that be very soon. Once that is done we will start rehabilitating it the same way we have done at Kamungoma. We also expect it to be a tourist attraction,” said Mr Mandima.

Situated in the Gonarezhou National Park, Gonakudzingwa Restriction Camp was home to then political prisoners that included the late Father Zimbabwe, Joshua Nkomo, Josiah Chinamano and his wife Ruth, Jane Ngwenya among others. These heroes and heroines were incarcerated and isolated right in the middle of the jungle. — @walterbmswazie2