The Sunday News
The leader of a United Kingdom delegation that is in the country for the Harare International Carnival has endorsed Zimbabwe as a safe destination and pledged to tell the true story of the country in England as there were a lot of negative media reports peddled there.
The UK delegation from Notting Hill Carnival arrived in Zimbabwe on Friday for the Harare International Carnival that ends today and expressed amazement at how different the country was from what they expected.
The Notting Hill Carnival is ranked fourth in the world.
Ruff Diamond Entertainment leader Mr Ken Haines said there are a lot of negative things from the media that have been said about Zimbabwe but that is to be expected as most of the media is owned by people sympathetic to the British government, hence the need to ridicule African heroes especially former colonies.
“I refuse to take on board those unknown truths and prefer to see things on the ground that is why despite discouragement from others we came here. The President of Zimbabwe is a hero among a lot of people but he is also human and is allowed to make mistakes. Even the whites have made mistakes,” said Mr Haines.
Mr Haines said the West is known for backing opposition parties in a bid to make life difficult for the ruling governments, just as they imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.
He said if the people of Zimbabwe did not believe in their Government then President Mugabe would not be getting re-elected into power.
“In England we have been brainwashed and are made not to value ourselves as black people should. What we are seeing in Zimbabwe, you do not see in England, so many people walking freely, owners and entrepreneurs. Here your destiny is in your hands and you decide your own fate.
“The grass is not always greener on the other side but Zimbabweans should work towards making their own country a better place to be,” he said.
Speaking on the essence of carnival, Mr Haines said they serve to bring all cultures together and for that one moment everyone is similar in their differences for they are a moment of laughter and enjoyment and celebrating the diversity of culture.
The vision of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority on the carnival is to achieve 100 percent gross national happiness for all people.
“This day of celebration is special and should be marked well. The initiative by the ZTA to adopt the carnival concept was a wise one and we urge all of you to mark it well,” said Mr Haines.
Mr Haines said before leaving England, people were skeptical and asked them why they were coming to Zimbabwe but said from what he has seen, Zimbabwe is a success story.
“As performers we are ambassadors and when we return to our countries, each one of us will tell the truth of our experiences as these are first hand but not through the media. As you can see our group consists of young members and this is their first time in Africa. They are the future,” he said.
He confirmed that the group will not only be participating in future carnivals in Zimbabwe but will also offer any help in building the carnival concept as a group that is renowned in this industry.
Mr Haines said Zimbabwe should be like Seychelles whose tourism industry has been boosted by carnivals as it has iconic places, beautiful and hospitable people as well sunshine.
“I can’t see why it should be difficult for Zimbabwe to market itself and bring in tourists through carnivals. You have one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Victoria Falls, you have the Great Zimbabwe and so many other places. Next time when we come we will fill the plane with revellers and performers to experience the African carnivals,” he said.
The Notting Hill Carnival has been in existence for 50 years and the group specialises in Soca dancing which is a style of Caribbean music originating in Trinidad and Tobago and fuses the Caribbean and Africa.
Trinidad and Tobago delegates who attended the carnival said their mission was to spiritually connect to Zimbabwe as this carnival was more than having fun but part of their cultural life that they share with Africa.
Zimbabwe has placed itself on the world map as one of the new age carnivals and this year’s edition attracted three countries in the world top five in terms of carnivals – Brazil known for its Samba dancers ranked number one, Trinidad and Tobago ranked second as well as the Notting Hill Carnival ranked fourth.
More than 19 countries took part at the second edition of the Harare International Carnival which ran under the theme, Celebrating our diversity.
