By Munacho Gwamanda –The government has announced ambitious plans to demolish the dilapidated Mbare flats and construct new high-rise buildings, a move it claims will decongest the area and improve living conditions.
However, critics say this is yet another propaganda stunt meant to mask over two decades of state failure to provide even the most basic urban services.
The pronouncements were made by National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe on the sidelines of the launch of “Operation Chenesa Harare,” a hygiene campaign launched on Wednesday in response to a worsening bed bug infestation — locally known as tsikidzi — that has gripped the overcrowded suburb.
Addressing journalists at the event, Minister Garwe admitted to the dire state of urban housing in Zimbabwe’s capital.
“Not only in Mbare, but in the majority of our high-density settlements, it is overcrowded. And these buildings you are seeing here, these flats or hostels, have seen their better days,” he said.
Garwe claimed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa had instructed the government to embark on an “urgent” programme of urban regeneration under Vision 2030 — a policy which, critics argue, increasingly serves as a rhetorical shield for failed service delivery and deepening urban decay.
“Mbare will be a place to be. We want to ensure that the targets of Vision 2030 are achieved earlier, and this will be seen through the construction of new high-rise flats,” said Garwe, offering no timelines, budgets, or concrete plans for the ambitious project.
He outlined a vague two-pronged strategy — “building better backwards” by refurbishing existing flats, and “building better forward” through the construction of new units.
“We have got pieces of land here,” he said. “Build new blocks of flats so that we decongest the existing infrastructure.”
The proposed redevelopment comes amid public outcry over deteriorating sanitary conditions in Mbare, worsened by chronic underinvestment, neglect by the City of Harare, and government indifference.
The suburb, once an iconic residential hub, has become emblematic of Zimbabwe’s broader urban crisis.
The government’s sudden interest in Mbare coincides with Operation Chenesa Harare, its latest short-term campaign to deal with the tsikidzi menace that erupted three weeks ago.
While Garwe touted the multi-ministerial response involving fumigation and health checks, residents pointed out that such problems are symptoms of a broken urban system — one the ruling Zanu PF government has failed to maintain or reform since the early 2000s.
“Three weeks ago, there was an outbreak of bed bugs here in Mbare called tsikidzi. We then sat down with the City of Harare and created some teams who began fumigation,” said Garwe.
He admitted that efforts had initially stalled due to residents resisting access, a reflection of growing mistrust between citizens and the authorities.
In a show of force, Garwe stressed that the campaign was a “whole-of-government approach” supported by multiple ministries, including Health, Women’s Affairs, and Information — a level of mobilization observers say is rarely seen when it comes to addressing longstanding infrastructure decay.
Analysts note that the timing of the housing announcements — in the middle of a public health crisis — signals a political attempt to rebrand failure as visionary leadership.
With no delivery track record and little transparency on financing or timelines, the new flats promise risks becoming yet another lofty pledge in the regime’s growing catalogue of propaganda pronouncements.