Women hail First Lady for changing lives

MOREBLESSING MARANGE recently in Nyanga

First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa was this week showered with praises and love by thousands of women with dozens expressing gratitude towards her initiatives that has changed lives.

Women who spoke at the Amai’s Traditional Meal Cookout competition held in Nyanga, Manicaland province, spoke highly of how their lives have been turned around for the better describing Dr Mnangagwa as “God’s gift to the nation.”

The National Cookout Competition is the brainchild of the First Lady and is a platform to showcase cultural diversity, celebrate diverse foods and a means to address food security issues in Africa.

Previous winners of the competition paid tribute to the First Lady for placing them on the global map.

“I am the 2023 national cookout winner from Manicaland Province. I won this competition in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West and I entered the Sadc Cookout competition as well which was organised by Amai,” Angeline Muponda said.

“As I stand before you, you can see that I look young because of eating traditional dishes. Through the First Lady’s teachings, we are moving around into villages and communities teaching people to cook traditional dishes.”

Another previous winner Angela Moloi said: “I went to Victoria Falls for the 2022 finals and emerged a first runner-up. On October 6, 2023 I was invited by Amai to go to Spain for the eighth United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism where we showcased our Zimbabwean dishes. We cooked many dishes among them rupiza, nhopi which were a hot favourite with the delegates and I was awestruck.”

She said, using skills attained through the First Lady’s initiative, she now employs 25 people at a mine in Goromonzi, Mashonaland East province.

“I just do not know how sufficiently I can thank you for the love that you show us daily Amai. In February this year, I was phoned by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to visit India because of the organic food that I prepare for diabetics. I went to India because of the cookout competition which put me on the map and when I was displaying my dishes telling them that this is our indigenous food from Zimbabwe they said they wanted me to prepare food to feed millions of people there,” she said.

Amai Mnangagwa’s initiative has become a key part of Zimbabwe’s gastronomy tourism development and promotion and has attracted the attention of the United Nations that was represented at the Nyanga national finals.

Other African countries have also taken a leaf from the initiative with Malawi President, through his Minister of Tourism Malawi’s Minister of Tourism Vera Kamtukule, inviting the First Lady to the neighbouring country.

Speaking in Nyanga, the First Lady said traditional gastronomy cuisine is a key driver for the transformation of economies, community development and a catalyst for cultural branding for socio-economic benefits.

The First Lady launched the traditional meal cookout competition in 2019 and thereafter, handed over the programme to the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry following its success.

A UN Tourism team comprising Ms Maria Soledad Gaido and Ms Zineb Remmal, the technical coordinators came to assess the country’s preparedness to host the first-ever Africa gastronomy Forum in Victoria Falls in July.

The food tourism conference will be held in Zimbabwe in recognition of the First Lady’s relentless drive to promote gastronomy or culinary tourism locally and without the country’s borders.