Today Emmerson Mnangagwa is opening the new traffic interchange in Harare. It is being called the Trabalas Interchange although many are now calling it the Trababas Interchange. A name that sounds like a joke for a project that is already being seen as a disaster. People are asking real questions and not getting any real answers. They are asking why it cost so much and why it already looks so bad. The government claims it cost US$88 million but Zimbabweans know very well what US$88 million should look like and this is not it.
In fact the price makes no sense. In South Africa there is a similar road called the Mount Edgecombe Interchange in Durban. That one cost only US$65.9 million. It is bigger. It is better. It is finished properly. So how does a poorer country like Zimbabwe end up spending more money for worse quality? Why does our interchange look like it was built by amateurs when it was supposed to be a world class project? These are not just complaints. They are serious concerns. People want to know who ate the money.
The truth is already showing. The workmanship is poor. There are cracks and rough surfaces even before the official opening. Some parts look unfinished. This is not the kind of project you expect for nearly ninety million US dollars. It looks like a backdoor deal. A scam passed off as development. A monument of corruption in broad daylight. Many believe this was never about improving roads but about looting.
There was no transparency. The company that built it is Fossil Contracting. A company owned by Obey Chimuka who is known to be friends with Kudakwashe Tagwirei. And both are close to the ruling party. That alone should make anyone worry. It is the same circle of people eating while the rest of the country starves. There was no open tender. No public explanation. Just another inflated project given to friends. And as usual the money disappears into silence.
There is no report explaining the breakdown of costs. No explanation of why such a basic-looking road cost so much. No reason given for the poor quality. No public oversight. It is always the same game. They pretend to build while they steal. And they expect us to be grateful. They expect us to clap and cheer while they rob us blind. They put a ribbon on the theft and call it progress.
But this is not new. We have seen it again and again. Roads built with big ceremonies but no durability. Hospitals launched with speeches but no medicine. Schools painted for cameras but no books inside. And through it all the leaders say Zimbabwe is open for business. Yes it is open for business. The business of stealing from the people. The business of enriching the few at the expense of the many.
Zimbabweans are tired. They are angry. They are watching as their future is auctioned to the highest bidder while they are told to smile. The Trabalas Interchange has become a symbol of everything wrong. A symbol of arrogance. A symbol of lies. Even the name feels insulting. Naming it after the president as if that is an achievement when people cannot even afford bread.
We are not blind. We are not fools. We see what is happening. This is not leadership. This is looting. This is why we speak. This is why we fight. Because Zimbabwe deserves better. Because this country cannot move forward when the roads are built on lies. Because the people deserve roads that connect them not roads that mock them.
Let them open their fake road. Let them smile for the cameras. But we will keep exposing the truth. Because Zimbabwe will rise one day. And it will rise without thieves in charge.
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