Beloved city of kings, Queens

By Newsday | Jun. 1, 2014

BULAWAYO the ancient capital of King Lobengula Khumalo is known as the City of Kings and Queens, but a quick search on the Internet reveals that it is only Lima in Peru that features as the city of kings .

What have we done to market Bulawayo as a city of Kings dovetailing this with the potential of unlocking its potential as a tourism destination?

A trip to the industrial areas of Bulawayo in Belmont, Kelvin or Khami Road reveals the extent to which our beloved city has been ravaged by economic crises.

To call Bulawayo the city of Kings and Queens is not just a tokenistic attempt at retrospective gender balancing, but a reflection of historical reality because this nation was ruled not just by kings such as the Khumalos and the Mambos, but also by the likes of the great Queen Lozikeyi Dlodlo who provided leadership for the Ndebele nation after the demise of the monarchy (see Lozikeyi Dlodlo Queen of the Ndebele, Marieke Faber Clarke and Pathisa Nyathi).

This being said what is it that is in place which makes Bulawayo the City of Kings currently?

The Joshua Nkomo statue was a brilliant start, but maybe giant statues of Kings Lobengula and Mzilikazi Khumalo would not be a bad idea to really brand the city as the city of kings.

This could also attract interest in the cultural diversity and richness of the city and region and this could be a selling point.

Washington DC in the United States is a model of a city rich in historical memorabilia attracting people from all over the world.