Rumours of gold deposits around the construction site of the Museum of African Liberation in Warren Park, Harare, are fake news, with the works now at 12 percent.
The construction work had left some speculating that there were gold deposits at the site.
Speaking during a media tour, Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Kindness Paradza said it was untrue that there were gold deposits at the site.
“There was this misinformation about what is happening here, with some suggesting that we are not building the museum of liberation but are actually digging gold,” he said. “That is not true.
“There is no gold here, but what is happening is that there is a complex which is one of the major complexes in Harare. You have seen that it is a hive of activity today.”
The giant museum site with the foundations dug and work in progress did look vaguely like a mining site in its earlier stages because of the sheer work that requires the digging up of earth for the foundation, thus triggering the rumour machine.
But Deputy Minister Paradza challenged journalists to disseminate correct information so that the people become aware of what is happening.
“We are just doing serious business as the Second Republic,” he said. “You have seen that it is hive of activity today and also what is happening here dovetails with our new cyber city.”
Institute of African Knowledge (Instak) chief executive officer, Ambassador Kwame Muzawazi said: “There is no gold here, but the ‘gold’ is the heritage that we are putting together and the construction is happening everywhere.”
He described the construction of the liberation museum as one of the fastest moving major projects of the Second Republic.
“The museum itself has reached 12 percent threshold as of yesterday and as you may recall His Excellency was here on 21 December last year where he laid the foundation,” he said. “Since then, we hit the ground running.
“We are not stopping and it is also one of the few places where we are operating 18 hours a day and there will be no industrial recess.”
The recreation manager of Instak, Mrs Diana Sitotombe, said the construction was being done in phases and the liberation mall will soon be open to Fifa World Cup 2022 viewers.
“Temporarily we are going to use it for World Cup viewing so that people can gather and drink as a group or individuals whilst watching World Cup matches,” she said.
Construction of the Museum of African Liberation started in July along with construction of the Liberation Mall.
The construction is progressing well and it will house a modern shopping mall with outlets for reputable firms.
The complex will accommodate a host of facilities including a five-star hotel, amusement park, recreational park, animal park and presidential upmarket villas.
The monument is a dedication to all fallen veterans of the continent’s liberation wars and is meant to document wars fought in Africa in its quest for self-governance.
Recently, a high-powered delegation from Instak led by Ambassador Muzawazi returned from Russia where they had gone for a partnership agreement with the Russian State University for the Humanities. – The Herald
