Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa says Victoria Falls is Zimbabwe’s alone not Zambia’s.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has reignited a delicate regional debate by declaring that the majestic Victoria Falls—known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya—belongs exclusively to Zimbabwe and is not shared with neighbouring Zambia. Addressing delegates and international visitors at the Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo held in Masvingo, President Mnangagwa asserted that geographical orientation dictates ownership of the global natural wonder. To illustrate his point to the audience, the Zimbabwean leader deployed a colloquial and unorthodox courtship analogy, arguing that a suitor approaches from the front rather than the back, thereby claiming that the falls face Zimbabwe while turning their back on Zambia. The remarks have quickly drawn attention across the Zambezi River, raising concerns among tourism stakeholders, historians, and diplomats who view the rhetoric as an unnecessary departure from decades of cooperative binational management. Victoria Falls is internationally recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the border between the two countries, anchored along the Zambezi River. Both Zambia and Zimbabwe have historically collaborated to market the tourism hub as a joint destination, sharing cross-border facilitation frameworks, visa arrangements like the KAZA Univisa, and joint conservation efforts to preserve the fragile ecosystem surrounding the gorge. While tourism analysts and political commentators on both sides of the border often debate which country offers a superior viewing experience—with Zimbabwean vantage points offering broad panoramic views of the main falls and the Zambian side providing close-up proximity to the cascading water and Livingstone Island—official ownership has never been legally or cartographically contested. The international boundary runs down the deepest channel of the river, splitting the majestic waterfall between Zambia's Livingstone and Zimbabwe's resort city of Victoria Falls. Consequently, presi