TRABALAS INTERCHANGE IS A BIG SIGN OF LOOTING, NOT PROGRESS
Today Emmerson Mnangagwa is opening the new traffic interchange in Harare. It is called the Trabalas Interchange, and some people even call it the Trababas Interchange because they now joke about it. Many people are saying this is not a real project to help the country. They say it is a waste of money. The government says this road cost US$88 million, but people are shocked because it looks very poor. They ask how a road that costs so much can look so bad.
The price is too high. People compare it to a similar road in Durban, South Africa, called the Mount Edgecombe Interchange. That road cost US$65.9 million. It is bigger, better and stronger. It looks like real development. So people are asking how Zimbabwe can spend more money on a smaller and weaker road. It does not make sense. Many Zimbabweans are asking this same question every day.
The workmanship on this new interchange is very bad. Even before it is opened, you can already see cracks. You can see unfinished parts. You can see places where the work looks rushed and careless. This is not how a project worth US$88 million should look. It looks like something that cost a very small amount, not something that cost millions of dollars. People now say this is not progress. This is theft hiding behind the word “development.”
Many people believe the government used this project to steal money. There was no open and fair process to choose the builders. The company that built the road is Fossil Contracting. This company is owned by Obey Chimuka. He is known to be friends with Kudakwashe Tagwirei, another rich man linked to ZANU PF leaders. Because of this, people believe the road project was never about building a good road. They believe it was a way to move public money into private pockets. They say the price was made high so that some friends of the government could get rich.
There are no clear reports showing how the US$88 million was used. The public does not know who was paid or for what. Zimbabweans are tired of seeing the same names getting richer while the country gets poorer. Leaders act like everything is normal. They act like we should clap for them. But the truth is very clear. This is not development. This is looting in daylight.
This is not the first time something like this has happened. Zimbabwe has many fake projects. The government says they spend big money, but the results are always weak and embarrassing. Roads fall apart soon after they are built. Hospitals have no medicine. Schools have no books. Water does not reach many homes. But leaders still say Zimbabwe is open for business. What kind of business is this, where only the powerful few win and everyone else suffers?
Many Zimbabweans are angry and tired. They say the country is being looted every single day. They say leaders pretend to build things only so they can steal money. The Trabalas Interchange has now become a symbol of that corruption. It is a road full of lies, not a road full of hope.
Even the name of the road feels like a joke. Naming it after the president does not bring food to people’s homes. People are struggling with prices. They are struggling with transport. They are struggling with rent. But the government thinks a bad road with a fancy name will make people happy.
We are not fools. We can see what is going on. Zimbabwe needs real change. Not paint on potholes. Not overpriced roads. Not names of leaders on failed projects. We need honest leaders who care about people and who want a better future for everyone.
This is why we speak. This is why we write. Because Zimbabwe deserves better than this.
People must stop attacking every project the government completes. The Trabalas Interchange is a step forward, and comparing Zimbabwe to South Africa is unfair. Conditions, suppliers, and costs are different. Instead of criticising everything, we should acknowledge the effort being made to modernise Harare. Development takes time, and this is at least a sign of progress.
This article is too negative and one-sided. The President is trying to fix the road network, something previous governments ignored for years. Fossil Contracting is a local company creating jobs, but activists always attack local businesses instead of supporting national growth. Not everything is corruption, sometimes people just want to destroy ZANU PF for political reasons.
Critics forget that Zimbabwe has sanctions and economic challenges that make infrastructure more expensive. Yet the same people cry when nothing is built. Now something major has been completed, and still they complain. Opposition activists need to stop politicising development and learn to appreciate progress when it happens.