ZIMBABWE SPENDS $88 MILLION ON A BRIDGE TO CORRUPTION — ARE WE NEXT IN ESWATINI?
Zimbabwe has just opened a new traffic interchange in Harare named after President Emmerson Mnangagwa. But instead of pride, the news has been met with anger and disbelief. The Trabalas Interchange cost a shocking US$88 million, and many are calling it a monument to corruption. When you look closer, it becomes clear that this project is not about helping people, but about helping politicians and their friends get rich.
In a normal country, such a project would be welcomed if it made life better. But in Zimbabwe, things are not that simple. The workmanship on the bridge is poor. The price is too high. And the people who built it are linked to powerful businessmen and politicians who have been accused of looting public funds before. One of the companies involved is Fossil Contracting, owned by Obey Chimuka. Chimuka is connected to Kudakwashe Tagwirei, one of Zimbabwe’s most powerful and controversial businessmen. Many believe the price was inflated to pay bribes, kickbacks, and political favours.
Compare that to the Mount Edgecombe Interchange in Durban, South Africa. It cost US$65.9 million and is far more advanced than Zimbabwe’s bridge. This makes the $88 million price tag look even more suspicious. Some engineers say Zimbabwe’s interchange could have been built for much less. But in corrupt systems, cost is never about value — it’s about who gets a cut.
As a political activist from Eswatini, I cannot ignore what’s happening next door. Because in many ways, Zimbabwe is a mirror of our own country. Different government, same sickness. Eswatini is run by an absolute monarchy that controls everything. There are no elections. No press freedom. No accountability. Corruption happens in silence, and anyone who speaks out risks jail or death. We have watched our leaders build useless vanity projects while hospitals run out of medicine, and youth have no jobs.
Just like in Zimbabwe, we have a small group of elites who live in luxury while the people suffer. Instead of highways, we have royal birthday celebrations. Instead of bridges, we have private jets and palaces. The system is designed to benefit the few, not the many. And when people cry out, they are silenced. The murder of activist Thulani Maseko is still fresh in our hearts. His only crime was believing in freedom and justice.
The Trabalas Interchange is not just a bridge — it’s a warning. When a government is not chosen by the people, it does not serve the people. It serves itself. When there is no freedom of speech, corruption grows like cancer. When there is no accountability, even a road can become a crime scene.
We in Eswatini must learn from this. If we stay silent, we will be next. If we do not demand democracy, we will keep watching millions being stolen while we beg for food parcels. We must raise our voices louder than ever before. We must expose the truth and fight for a system that respects the people.
Zimbabwe’s bridge was built with stolen dreams. Let us not allow Eswatini’s future to be built on the same foundation.
Our countries deserve better. Our people deserve better. And until we get real democracy — we must never stop fighting.
