TRABABAS INTERCHANGE: A SHINY ROAD OF LIES AND LOOTING

Today, Emmerson Mnangagwa is opening the new traffic interchange in Harare. It is called the Trabalas Interchange, but some Zimbabweans now call it the “Trababas Interchange” because of how useless and laughable it has become. What should be a symbol of progress has become a symbol of theft. The road is being called a development, but to many of us, it is just another way to steal from the people.

The government says the road cost US$88 million. But when you look at it, you ask yourself, “Where did the money go?” This road does not look like it cost that much. In fact, many people are saying it looks poor and badly done. You can already see cracks and poor finishes before it even opens. That is not development. That is robbery in the name of progress.

In South Africa, there is a road in Durban called the Mount Edgecombe Interchange. That one cost only US$65.9 million. It is bigger and much better than this one in Zimbabwe. So why is ours more expensive and of low quality? This is the question many of us are asking. But instead of answers, we are told to smile and clap.

The company that built the road is Fossil Contracting. The owner is Obey Chimuka, a man known to be close to another rich and powerful man, Kudakwashe Tagwirei. Both of them are friends of ZANU PF. They are close to the ruling elites. That is why people believe this project was not about roads. It was about looting. The cost was made high on purpose so they could share the money among themselves.

There was no open bidding process. There is no public report showing how the US$88 million was used. It is always the same few people getting rich while the rest of the country suffers. Schools have no books. Hospitals have no medicine. Children sit on the floor in classrooms. But they are building overpriced roads and naming them after the president.

This is an insult. They want us to forget our pain and celebrate lies. But we will not. We know this is fake. We know it is just a show. The truth is clear. The Trabalas Interchange is a symbol of the greed that is destroying Zimbabwe. It is a shiny road of lies built on the broken dreams of millions.

This is not the first time ZANU PF has done this. There have been many fake projects. Each one used to steal from the public. And when we speak, they call us enemies of progress. But the real enemies of progress are the ones stealing public money. The real enemies of progress are those who lie to the people and call it development.

I write this as a political activist. I will not keep quiet while my country is being destroyed. I will not stay silent while a few people eat and the rest of us starve. This is why we fight. This is why we write. We must tell the truth. We must expose the lies. We must keep the fire of freedom burning.

Zimbabwe is not poor. Zimbabwe is being looted. Every dollar stolen is a child denied food. Every fake project is another nail in the coffin of our future. And we must say no. We must stand up and say: this is not right.

This is our land. And we want it back from the thieves.

Let us never stop speaking. Let us never stop writing. Zimbabwe deserves better.