Preparations for the upcoming annual Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo scheduled for September 10-12 are now being rushed and chaotic after the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry led by Barbara Rwodzi shifted the event from Bulawayo to Mutare for self-interest.
Sanganai/Hlanganani is a premier international tourism expo for networking, business, and showcasing tourism destinations.
Ministry officials say Rwodzi arbitrarily moved the event from Bulawayo to Mutare for financial self-interest and individual benefit for officials and their business cronies, not to improve tourism marketing.
Yet Bulawayo already has the required infrastructure at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair exhibition grounds, while in Mutare the venue for the event – Mutare Sports Club – has to be done to meet requirements.
Holding the event in different places is widely viewed a good idea, but the cost of hosting will now quadruple due to lack of required facilities as Rwodzi and her senior ministry officials move to create rent-seeking opportunities for themselves through procurement and supplies deals to make money for self-enrichment.
Usually the event cost an average of US$500 000, but now it has shot up four times to US$2 million, creating business opportunities for officials to make money themselves through various infrastructure, procurement and supply deals.
To host an international tourism expo like Sanganai/Hlanganani, ZTA, it needs infrastructure, including a large venue with exhibition halls, meeting rooms, and catering facilities, as well as power, water and sanitation services.
Essentials include audio-visual equipment, Wi-Fi, IT support, signage, promotional materials, and staffing for logistics and visitor services.
There is also need to manage vendor relations for booths, entertainment, and security to ensure a smooth and impactful event.
A senior ministry official said:
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“Preparations are now being rushed and its becoming chaotic because of the minister’s wrong decisions.
For instance, Rwodzi and her team ordered tents in China, but they are taking too long to arrive as shipping is a long process.
When they realised that it won’t work, they picked someone, one of their cronies, to hire tents from South Africa for the event in Mutare.
The hired tents arrived at the port of entry, Beitbridge border post, last week on Friday and they are now busy setting up the venue with just a week to go.
But why hire tents from South Africa? Are there no tents in Zimbabwe? If it is about cost, it will be more expensive in the end when transport and other hidden costs are taken into account.
Besides, there is need for a dedicated and reliable power supply, which means they need a power sub-station that will cost about US$200 000. Who will pay for that? Zesa or the ministry?
And those are public funds being wasted just to make a few individuals eat.
This is corruption at its worst.
These people moved the event to make money, not to deliver a better tourism expo.”
The Sanganai/Hlanganani scandal comes as it emerged that Rwodzi is currently riding roughshod over the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) which is mandated to organise such events to promote, market and develop Zimbabwe as a tourist destination.
In terms of Tourism Act (Chapter 14:20) of 1996, ZTA is mandated to promote tourism, regulate the industry by setting and enforcing standards, and manage the Zimbabwe Tourism Fund.
It also has other functions, including licensing tourist facilities, collecting levies, and resolving industry-related issues.
Sources said Rwodzi is now not only running and influencing ZTA decisions, but has virtually taken charge of its day-to-day operations of the agency, including managing Zimbabwe Tourism Fund, which is illegal.
“The Sanganai/Hlanganani which is now set to be held from 10-12 September was moved from Bulawayo to Mutare officially to enable other places to also host it, but this does not add any value to the event and in fact makes it more expensive.
We usually spent an average of between US$500 000 on the event as Bulawayo has the necessary infrastructure at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair grounds to host the tourism event at a competitive cost and return.
But now the expo has been arbitrarily moved elsewhere by authorities using their powerful offices and political power, not economic imperatives and calculations.
The costs will now quadruple, and run into millions, but the returns won’t change much or perhaps the event will go down.
Moving around the event to different places across the country sounds like a good idea, but then again it is not an economic imperative, it’s a luxury and a political action for officials to make money.
In this specific case, the minister, who is a well-known businesswoman in her own right, and her officials and their cronies have a self-serving agenda: to make money for themselves through various infrastructure, procurement and supply deals.”
Another source added:
“Sometime in July, ZTA sent a proocurement and logistics team to China to buy and ship containers with tents, chairs and equipment, as well as other things needed to construct a venue at Mutare Sports Club.”
A team from the ministry has been deployed to monitor preparations in Mutare where coincidentally Zanu PF will hold its annual conference at Mutare Polytechnic from 13-18 October.
Officials from the ministry have refused to comment, referring questions to the minister who has not been available.
Newshawks
