Wallace Ruzvidzo recently in Bulawayo
Multitudes of people thronged the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) main arena on Saturday, braving the cloudy conditions to witness Kenyan President William Ruto officially opening the fair.
Both President Mnangagwa and President Ruto were welcomed with ululations as they pulled up together in a vintage vehicle.
As is tradition when a Head of State officially opens the ZITF, President Ruto went on to inspect the guard of honour.
The crowd then was excited at the precision of the fly past, while on the ground displays from drum majorettes, the army and police kept the crowd on their feet.
Attendees, including dignitaries and diplomats, were amazed by the orderly fashion in which entrances into the arena by the mayors and service chiefs' motorcades were in.
Speaking to The Herald after the official opening, Gogo Mambo, aged 67, said she was enthralled by the ceremony as she had never seen a foreign President in real life before.
"I am very happy, I think this is a very significant highlight in my life. Ever since I was born I had never seen a President from another country in real life and right now I am 67, so you can imagine how happy I am.
"When I get back home I am going to tell them that Gogo Mambo was with two Presidents today," she said with a glow.
Simpiwe Moyo said she had been thoroughly impressed by the drum majorettes' performance.
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Another highlight of her day was seeing Sandra Ndebele performing live.
"I do not know what to say. When I saw her, I was very happy my brother. She is one of our own and seeing her in real life was an amazing experience which I will never forget.
"The performance by the drum majorettes was very good; perhaps I could have been one myself in another life time," she said.
Fourteen-year-old Thabo Mako said what had caught his attention the most was the fly past by the Air Force of Zimbabwe and the military parade.
"I had never seen so many soldiers and police officers in one place before. It was intriguing to me so much that when I grow up, I just might want to be a soldier," he said enthusiastically.
"The fly past was just something else, that thing (jet) is fast, it was all just beautiful to see."
One of the highlights of the event was when President Ruto received an executive gift of a locally manufactured desk, safari crocodile leather briefcase, a portrait of himself and a case of Mazoe Orange Crush from ZITF chairman Mr Busisa Moyo. He was very happy to have received the thoughtful 100 percent Zimbabwe made gifts.
In his remarks, the Kenyan President said Zimbabwe was indeed "Africa's best case scenario".
"Innovation empowers technologies and processes to achieve more in terms of volume and variety, making it easier to satisfy demand and offer choice.
"It reduces waiting times, leading to higher levels of satisfaction and enables producers to attain and maintain higher standards.
"Finally, it guarantees both consistency and security, making both consumers and producers surer about their expectations."
