By Bridget Mananavire
When President Emmerson Mnangagwa visited Davos, Switzerland where he reiterated the ‘‘Zimbabwe is open for business’’ message, there was one thing that he also introduced; his multi-coloured scarf.
After the meeting, Mnangagwa has made this scarf part of his fashion statement and a few of his followers have also been seen wearing it.
The fashion police are now hot on his trail and are seemingly pissed-off by the scarf which he wears even in high temperatures, worse still when he attends engagements that do require him to wear safety clothing.
From the time he went to Davos, the president has ‘‘not taken off the scarf’’, be it at party events or government engagements, the scarf is now part of his fashion regimen.
The fashion police are of the opinion that this is overkill and worse still they think the scarf is not matching his suits.
People on social media have even started comparing the president with yesteryear ZTV drama actor Paraffin — whose scarf and woollen hat was his trademark and a point of laughter.
The scarf has been used as a reference of failure by Mnangagwa’s government over his much-hyped first 100 days in office.
“The only thing that ED did in 100 days was to walk around in a scarf,” screamed one social media user.
A visit by Mnangagwa to Nestle’s factories exposed the scarf’s misplacement as a Daily News reader raised concern over the failure by the president and Nestlé management to respect the factory’s dressing code.
Mnangagwa was wearing the scarf as he toured the Cremora plant and wore it on top of the white safety coat that had been provided by the company. Some of his ministers have unashamedly followed suit.
Perhaps, Mnangagwa might have taken a leaf out of cleric Evan Mawarire’s fashion book — who when he started #ThisFlag movement took the Zimbabwe flag everywhere he went.
Mnangagwa is, however, not the only president who has developed a trademark as Zambia’s former President Kenneth Kaunda was famous for his white handkerchief while Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s trademark is his sun hat. CHJAA Enterprises creators of the Zim Rocks scarfs have, however, received a boost for their business receiving 10 times the attention.
“We have even reduced their price to $12 from $15 because we have been able to bargain for lower production costs. This is because we want to make them accessible to everybody. At the moment we do not have a shop but we are available online where orders are made and we take three days,” CHJAA founder Celia Rukato said.
Rukato said the introduction of the scarfs to the Zimbabwe government was informal and that they dropped off the scarfs together with other things with the Foreign Affairs ministry. DailyNews
