https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/2025/06/01/will-i-live-to-see-a-zimbabwe-where-building-a-traffic-interchange-isnt-headline-news/ *_PLEASE SHARE_* *Will I live to see a Zimbabwe where building a traffic interchange isn’t headline news?* _BY Tendai Ruben Mbofana_ *I NEVER imagined we would sink this low.* It genuinely breaks my heart when I see an entire nation erupt in celebration over the construction of a single traffic interchange. Not just any interchange — but the only one built in the entire country a staggering 45 years after independence. As if that alone isn’t embarrassing enough, the structure had to be commissioned by the head of state himself. One would be excused for believing this project was one of the greatest feats in modern engineering or some revolutionary architectural innovation. Far from it. It is, in truth, a grossly overpriced structure — pegged at an eye-watering US$88 million — clearly substandard in quality and certainly nowhere near the magnificence or complexity of far cheaper traffic interchanges built in other countries across the continent. *_To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08_* In fact, this is not Zimbabwe’s first traffic interchange. That distinction belongs to the colonial regime, which constructed the now-aged structure where Simon Mazorodze Road meets Cripps Road in the 1970s. This was a serious project for its time — linking with the now Abdel Gamal Nasser Road, Fidel Castro Road, and Lytton Road. The interchange was officially opened by then-Prime Minister Ian Smith in 1972. Ironically, the recently constructed Mbudzi Interchange sits just a few kilometres down the same Simon Mazorodze Road. And yet, back in 1972, despite the significance of the project at that time, there was no noisy fanfare or political frenzy. There were no mass gatherings of party supporters dancing and chanting praises for Smith. There was no attempt to immortalize the construction as a divine gift to the people. It was just a road — a needed one — but a road nonetheless. Contrast that with today, where the atmosphere around the Mbudzi Interchange is one of manufactured euphoria. Constructed under the administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, this one interchange has triggered a tidal wave of self-congratulation, choreographed spectacles, and political speeches. And this isn’t happening in 1983 or 1993 — this is 2025. A full 45 years after independence. Shouldn’t such developments be a regular occurrence by now, so routine they barely make the evening news? Shouldn’t this be the new normal in a post-independence Zimbabwe that was meant to prove that black leadership could do far more, and far better, than the colonial regime ever did? But here we are — in a nation richly endowed with mineral wealth, arable land, skilled labour, and natural resources — where the only post-independence traffic interchange has become a national monument of sorts. Meanwhile, the true monuments of development — roads, power stations, hospitals, dams, towns and schools — all remain relics of colonialism. These are now in various stages of decay, crumbling from years of neglect and lack of maintenance. And still, we find ourselves celebrating what is arguably a substandard and suspiciously overpriced piece of infrastructure. One is forced to ask: what have we been doing with ourselves for the past 45 years? How did we get here — to a place where we cheer and ululate for a bridge or a borehole, like a village celebrating the return of rain after years of drought? Unfortunately, the Mbudzi Interchange is not an isolated example of such misplaced jubilation. In Zimbabwe, it has become normal — expected even — to see high-ranking officials, ministers, and sometimes the president himself, gathered to commission small-scale projects like roads, bridges, and even boreholes. These gatherings are marked by pomp, traditional dances, choirs, and lengthy speeches. And at the heart of it all are glowing tributes to the president, for “leaving no one and no place behind.” But what exactly are we celebrating here? Is building a road or installing a borehole not the basic function of any government? Why are such mundane, expected responsibilities treated like acts of divine benevolence? It’s akin to a father buying bread for his children, then organizing a feast to praise himself for his generosity, inviting the entire village to witness the marvel. Would that not strike anyone as ridiculous? And yet this is the Zimbabwe we are living in. To be brutally honest, it is embarrassing. There is something deeply wrong with a nation that has normalised this level of mediocrity. We have so lowered the bar that basic infrastructure now passes as visionary leadership. Our failure to demand more from those in power — to expect better, to expect efficiency, to expect progress — is what keeps us trapped in this never-ending cycle of underdevelopment. Let us take a look at our neighbours. When was the last time we saw South African President Cyril Ramaphosa commissioning a traffic interchange? Or the ANC party faithful singing and dancing over the opening of a bridge or a borehole? On 25 July 2024, South Africa completed the N2 Belstone Interchange. The project included not just one interchange but multiple — Belstone and Breidbach — a link road and the dualling of the MR0688 road, all at a cost of R438 million (about US$23 million). Now compare that to the US$88 million poured into a more inferior Mbudzi Interchange!! You would think, going by Zimbabwean standards, the N2 Belstone Interchange project would have warranted a presidential address with much ululating and singing. But no. There was no ceremony. No cabinet minister. No dancing supporters. The interchange was quietly opened and its completion merely announced in the media by the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) — a professional institution, doing its job, in a normal functioning country. This is what should happen in any society that is used to real development. Had Zimbabwe been such a country, the Mbudzi Interchange would have quietly opened — perhaps with a press release from ZINARA — and life would have moved on. There would be no songs. No drumming. No dancing. No speeches. Just a functioning road for people to use. But we are not there yet — and that is the most painful part of this story. The fact that we still need our president to officially open a road, or that we celebrate a borehole with such intensity, is proof that not much else is happening in Zimbabwe. These “achievements” stand out not because they are grand — but because they are so rare. They dominate the headlines because there is nothing else to report. And that is perhaps the saddest indictment of our country’s trajectory. So I ask again — am I going to live long enough to see a Zimbabwe where the construction of a bridge is no longer headline news? Will I ever see a day when the resurfacing of a road is not the lead story on the ZBC news bulletin? Will we ever graduate from clapping for crumbs, and finally begin to demand a full meal — of real progress, real leadership, and real transformation? Only time will tell. But until then, we continue to sing for scraps — while the rest of the world moves forward. *_● Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: [email protected], or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/_*