Importance of a name

On Sunday 15th December, at the Zanu PF annual congress in Chinhoyi Zimbabwe, plans were announced to rebrand the Victoria Falls as the 'Mosi Oa Tunya' (Smoke that Thunders).
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Mugabe-Party-Wants-to-Rename-Victoria-Falls/-/1066/2115976/-/rhlb9d/-/index.html

To be perfectly honest I'm amazed that it hasn't happened already. When I visited the Falls this year I was actually quite suprised to see that officially they were still branded as 'Victoria Falls' along with the town. I guessed that worries over a potential drop off in tourism may have been the reason why the change hadn't happened prior to now? I was equally suprised, but, at the same time glad to see that a statue of Dr. David Livingstone was still standing within the Victoria Falls national park.

Since the announcement on Sunday there has been a lot of debate online about whether the name should be changed. I feel strongly that it should and that concerns over tourism should play absolutely no part in the decision quite frankly. The Mosi Oa Tunya is the ancient name of the falls, it is a more majestic name, and it connects the land to the soul of the people. The people of Zimbabwe and Zambia had their land and identity stolen when the British formed their colony in Rhodesia. Local traditions and names where swept away as the colonists asserted their superiority over both the people and the land. The mission to rebuild the nation that has been underway since independence is about much more than just economic development. It is about a redevelopment of the people's sense of ownership for the land and their pride in local traditions and culture. Essentially, a rebuilding of the nations soul.

For these reasons I support changing the name back to its original name of Mosi Oa Tunya. Ultimately, with the right marketing there is no reason why tourism should suffer, but, even if it does experience a short term blip that would in no way detract from the major benefits that would arise from reconnecting the soul of the people with this natural wonder of the world.

At the same time, I would not like to see the statue of Dr. David Livingstone removed - why? Well becuase for better or worse the colonial heritage is part of the history of Zimbabwe and I feel that in order to truly understand itself, a nation must truly understand its history. Also, David Livingstone was actually not a colonist. He was an explorer who lived his life among the local people and had two local women as his life partners. When he died his heart was buried in Africa and his body returned to England. He loved Africa and he loved its people.

It will be interesting to see how the debate online progresses over the next few weeks and how the rebranding exercise when it happens is managed by the Zimbabwean government. Also do the Zambian government follow suit?

Mosi Oa Tunya (Smoke that Thunders) - definitely a much better name!