Tendai Rupapa

FIRST Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa yesterday held cordial and sisterly talks with her Guinean counterpart Mrs Lauriane Doumbouya who expressed deep admiration for her work in women empowerment and the fight against HIV, which she intends to replicate in her motherland.

Mrs Doumbouya was in the country with her family for a private tourism visit to Victoria Falls when she saw it befitting to travel to Harare to pay a courtesy call on the mother of the nation.

The Guinean First Lady said she was keen to learn more from Dr Mnangagwa whereupon the latter invited her back for a work visit to share notes on various areas of mutual interest including women empowerment and fighting HIV among many other areas.

Mrs Doumbouya duly accepted the invitation.

“I am grateful to you for coming to see me after your private visit to Victoria Falls. This is what we as women, mothers should do, visiting each other,” Dr Mnangagwa said.

Mrs Doumbouya responded: “We had a great time in Victoria Falls and the kids are delighted. They want to come back here again. The hospitality shown by the people of Zimbabwe is out of this world and the environment is peaceful. We also enjoyed our stay in Victoria Falls. Thank you also for receiving me here. I am happy,” she said.

Dr Mnangagwa said the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry was ensuring that tourism sites were always ready for visitors.

“Visits like this help in showing that our country, Zimbabwe, is free and open. One come and enjoy themselves without worrying about anything. Zimbabwe and your country have good relations and your visit cements our good relations as mothers working for our countries,” Dr Mnangagwa said to her counterpart who also invited her to pay a reciprocal visit to Guinea.

Dr Mnangagwa joyfully accepted the invitation and advised her counterpart about the benefits of joining the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) and the Merck Foundation which works with African First Ladies.

“Thank you very much. I will definitely come so that we share what to do together as mothers of nations and exchange ideas and programmes. It would be good if you joined OAFLAD. This is where we have our round tables as African First Ladies, as mothers of nations. There is also another organisation which is called Merck Foundation that we work with as First Ladies.

“Our doctors from different countries are receiving training in various specialities through this foundation and you will also benefit if you also come and join us. I will inform the secretariat of OAFLAD and the president so that they formally invite you. Please do come and join us so that you get to know what other First Ladies are doing in their countries for their people and we will also know what you are doing in your home country,” Amai Mnangagwa said.

Dr Mnangagwa gave Mrs Doumbouya, who assumed office in 2021, a glimpse into the work she is doing as patron of Angel of Hope Foundation.

“I have a foundation that I formed when I became the First Lady of this country which deals with so many issues like health, education, women empowerment, tourism and the environment among many other sectors. I am also promoting the consumption of our traditional food thus, promoting gastronomy tourism. Our indigenous dishes are medicinal and nutritious. We have a problem of breast cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer.”

“Some food that people take, may increase one’s risk of cancer that is why I am fighting so hard for our people to embrace our indigenous food. For the sake of good health, as the First Lady, I am encouraging people including men to be checked regularly for any ailments and to be screened for cancer because cancer is spreading but can be cured if detected early.

“As a mother, I am also fighting against early child marriages. I go around the country talking to parents to let children go to school, but it’s a thing you have got to continuously talk and engage families to stop early child marriages. There is a lot I am doing through my AoHF,” she said.

Amai Mnangagwa then gave the flow to the Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Barbra Rwodzi who paid tribute to the First Lady for her interventions which were paying dividends in many spheres.

“We have the United Nations Tourism that is coming to host a forum and this forum is coming from our First Lady’s initiative of going round the country reminding people that our traditional food is important and to go back to our own culture. The forum speaks about food and culture.

“When the United Nations noticed what her Excellency has been doing that is when they made a decision to call her to the world gastronomy forum in Spain last year and to honour her by saying that the first-ever gastronomy forum will be held in Zimbabwe.

“ This is the one we are hosting next week from the 26th to the 28th. We feel as a ministry that she has done well for the country. Zimbabwe is known for wildlife and many international tourists come for wildlife and also Her Excellency is the patron for wildlife in the country. As the patron, she is giving us as the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality and the Ministry of Environment and wildlife ideas and strategies of how to attract many people to come into the country,” she said.

Minister Rwodzi pointed out that last year Zimbabwe witnessed a surge in visits by American and Canadian tourists, specifically to view wildlife.

“Last year, it has never happened in our country, we had more Americans and Canadians coming into the country specifically for wildlife and we want to thank our Tourism and Environment patron for her efforts as she is also helping us to improve on our strategies.

“These are some of the works that Her Excellency is doing. Tourists say when we come to your country, we want to visit a country which is peaceful, a country which has hospitable people and a country which is clean. Her Excellency participates in clean-up campaigns countrywide including in rural areas,” she said.

President Mnangagwa declared every first Friday of the month clean-up day to foster cleanliness and give the country a good image.

National Aids Council chief executive, Dr Bernard Madzima, shared information on what the First Lady was doing in the fight against HIV.

“Thank you Your Excellency for visiting Zimbabwe, we are very grateful. The work that Dr Mnangagwa does is broader than the area we cover in terms of HIV and Aids.

“We support the work which she does as she advocates for HIV, non-communicable diseases and other issues including those of girl child and women empowerment. I am glad that through her programmes, specifically for HIV as she has said Zimbabwe is one of the few countries which have achieved the 95-95-95 UNAids 2025 targets. In other words, in Zimbabwe, more than 95 percent of those people who are HIV positive know their status and of those knowing their status as positive are on effective treatment and of those who are on effective treatment, 95 percent of them have got their viral load suppressed, so we have done that through her support and her advocacy work.

“Through her work, whilst we have achieved those targets, we have groups which are still lagging behind. We have commercial sex workers, and the male population is still reluctant to engage in health-seeking behaviour but Her Excellency has taken it upon herself to have programmes which involve men.

“She has gone out to engage men and try to talk to them to play their role in terms of ensuring good health. She has also gone out to talk to sex workers and empower them as a way of trying to end HIV by 2030. In a nutshell, these are some of the programmes which she does,” he said.

In closing, Dr Mnangagwa thanked Mrs Doumbouya for visiting her.

“I want to thank you for coming to see me on your way from Victoria Falls that is very important. You came on a private visit but you found it good for us to meet,” she said happily.

In response, Mrs Doumbouya said: “Thank you for the hospitality shown to us so far. Your country is amazing, beautiful. We have visited Victoria Falls and that is an amazing place.

“ During this meeting, we also learnt a lot from you and there are many ideas we will take back home to implement. Very soon we are coming back. I am interested in HIV treatment and women empowerment programmes that you are spearheading,” she said. – Herald