A ROAD FULL OF LIES AND BROKEN PROMISES

Today, Emmerson Mnangagwa is busy opening the new traffic interchange in Harare, which they are proudly calling the Trabalas Interchange. Some people jokingly call it the “Trababas Interchange.” But behind the laughter is anger and pain. Many people believe this project is not a symbol of progress but another sign of corruption and greed.

The government says the road cost US$88 million. But when people look at it, they wonder how it could possibly cost that much. In South Africa, there is a similar road in Durban called the Mount Edgecombe Interchange. It cost only US$65.9 million, yet it is bigger, stronger, and more beautiful. So how can Zimbabwe’s smaller, weaker interchange cost so much more? This question is on everyone’s lips.

Even before it was opened, people noticed cracks and unfinished work on the new road. The workmanship looks rushed and careless. For something that cost millions of dollars, it looks like a cheap project done to fool the public. People say this is not development—it is daylight robbery.

The company that built the road is called Fossil Contracting. It is owned by Obey Chimuka, who is well known to be close friends with Kudakwashe Tagwirei. Both are connected to powerful people in ZANU PF. This makes Zimbabweans believe the whole project was just a setup to steal public money. There was no open tender, no public record of how the company was chosen, and no report showing how the US$88 million was used. Everything was done behind closed doors.

Zimbabweans are tired of the same story repeating itself. Every time there is a big project, the same people get the contracts, the same names appear, and the same pockets get full. While the rich get richer, the poor keep suffering. Our hospitals have no medicine, schools have no books, and roads in rural areas are full of potholes. But the government still wants us to clap our hands for fake progress.

What kind of development is this, where people celebrate lies? How can we be proud of a road that already looks old before it even opens? How can we be silent when millions are being wasted while our children go hungry? This so-called Trabalas Interchange is not just a bridge of traffic—it is a bridge of corruption linking ZANU PF’s greed with the people’s pain.

Even the name of the interchange feels insulting. Naming it after the president when people are jobless and struggling to eat shows how disconnected the leaders are from real life. They want to be praised for things that do not change the lives of ordinary citizens. It is like putting a golden roof on a house with no foundation.

We are not fools. We see the lies. We see how our country is being robbed in broad daylight while those in power smile and call it progress. The Trabalas Interchange is a symbol of everything wrong with this government—a shiny surface hiding deep rot underneath.

Zimbabwe does not need more fake smiles or expensive lies. We need honest leaders who will build real hospitals, create real jobs, and fix our broken schools. We need a government that spends money on people, not on friends.

Let us keep speaking out. Let us keep writing. Let us keep fighting. The US$88 million used on that road could have changed many lives. Instead, it only made the rich richer. That is why we must not stay silent.

This is why we rise. This is why we fight. Because Zimbabwe deserves better than lies painted on concrete. We deserve truth, justice, and real change.