By Dorrothy Moyo | ZimEye | 29 May 2025 | As Zimbabwe prepares to unveil the $88 million Trabablas Interchange with fanfare, flags, and full ministerial entourages, one glaring symbol of national contradiction stands defiantly by the roadside: a highway sign mounted on raw, untreated wooden poles.

Yes, you read that right. Not steel. Not aluminium. Not galvanised metal. Wood.

This is not just a minor design oversight — it is a national embarrassment.

A Nation of Minerals, Begging for Metal?

Zimbabwe boasts some of the richest mineral deposits on the African continent. We are the third-largest producer of platinum globally, the world’s second-largest reserves of chrome, and sit atop vast deposits of nickel, gold, iron ore, lithium, and ferrochrome. In 2023 alone, Zimbabwe earned over US$5.6 billion from mineral exports, according to the Ministry of Mines.

And yet, on one of the country’s most high-profile infrastructure projects, we cannot apparently afford a pair of proper steel poles for road signage.

How is this possible?

The Symbolism of the Rotten Timber

The Trabablas Interchange was billed as a transformative project — one that would supposedly “modernize Zimbabwe’s transport network” and boost the economy. A project officials say is “a milestone of the Second Republic.” And yet here stands a warped signboard, held up by two termite-prone logs — looking more like the gateway to a rural farming co-op than a modern interchange.

This is not just about aesthetics. It’s about engineering integrity, road safety, and value for money.

The Economics of Rot and Rust

For context:

• A galvanised steel pole costs around US$50–80 retail.
• Even with inflation, two high-quality sign poles should cost no more than US$200 installed.
• The entire interchange is reported to have cost US$88 million.

In a nation where school children are sent home for failing to pay $10 school fees, what message does it send when $88 million is spent on an interchange that cuts corners for $200?

Worse still, wooden poles rot, splinter, and warp — which means the signage will deteriorate quickly, becoming a safety hazard and requiring expensive replacement sooner than metal poles would.

Corruption or Gross Negligence?

So what explains this mess?

There are only two real possibilities:

• Incompetence by the project managers who allowed this slapdash installation.
• Or corruption, where contractors siphoned funds and cut corners, knowing accountability is a distant dream in Zimbabwe’s patronage-drenched public sector.

Either way, the use of wooden poles is not just a technical failure. It is an indictment of the governance rot that continues to plague Zimbabwe’s infrastructure projects.

A Nation Watching

As Ministers pose for Facebook photos and President Mnangagwa prepares his ribbon-cutting speech, Zimbabweans are watching — and laughing. But it’s the laughter of despair, not joy.

In a country teetering on economic collapse, where 70% of citizens live in poverty, where hospitals have no drugs and schools no chalk, the fact that an $88 million interchange uses tree trunks for road signs should enrage every taxpayer.

It is the perfect metaphor for this administration’s leadership: polished surface, rotting foundation.

Until we stop celebrating mediocrity and start demanding accountability, Zimbabwe will continue to pave roads with gold — and hang signs with firewood.