$88 Million Bait-and-Switch: What Would You Ask Obey Chimuka About the Trabablas Interchange?
By Farai D Hove | ZimEye | | Harare | 30 May 2025
“Mr. Chimuka, where did the dream go?”
That’s the first question many Zimbabweans would fire at Obey Chimuka — the man behind the now-controversial Trabablas Interchange — as the nation finally comes face-to-face with what was promised in 2021, and what was actually delivered in 2025.
The billboard vision shared in public presentations and glossy architectural renders painted a picture of Zimbabwe’s entry into first-world infrastructure: a grand, multi-tiered, landscaped marvel of civil engineering, with seamless traffic flow, lush greenery, and global-standard signage. What has emerged instead is a dry, brittle, underconnected structure marred by patchy work, unmarked roads, wooden signage poles, and not even a single sign pointing toward Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, the country’s most critical economic hub.
The Man at the Centre: Obey Chimuka
Obey Chimuka, a politically connected businessman and frontman for Fossil Contracting, part of the TEFOMA consortium awarded the $88 million tender without public bidding, is now at the center of growing public outrage. With images now circulating comparing his 2021 digital proposal to the visibly incomplete 2025 reality, the social media verdict is swift: Chimuka over-promised and massively under-delivered.
From bold promises of a cutting-edge interchange to a visibly basic, unfinished slab of cement — the dissonance could not be more stark. Citizens are asking whether this was an intentional bait-and-switch or a catastrophic example of inflated costs and zero accountability.
Public Reaction: Mockery and Anger
On Friday morning, Twitter erupted with memes and outrage. One widely shared image captioned, “PROMISED THIS (2021) … DELIVERED THIS (2025)” showed Chimuka beaming beside the artist’s impression of the interchange, juxtaposed with the current state — a scattered, disjointed road system that lacks proper markings, signage, drainage, or even landscaping.
“It’s not even half of what was advertised,” said a civil engineer on condition of anonymity. “This is not an engineering masterpiece; it’s a rushed, compromised structure. At best, it’s serviceable. At worst, it’s an $88 million case study in political fraud.”
Accountability or Impunity?
The most haunting element in the public’s mind is that no official audit has yet been published, and no performance penalty appears to exist for failing to meet such a clearly advertised standard.
In Parliament last week, Senator Sengezo Tshabangu put it bluntly:
“What makes our road construction so expensive in the region, yet we use the same material?”
Minister of Transport Felix Mhona gave no technical defense, instead pointing to sanctions — a response many lawmakers called “evasive and irrelevant.”
The Bigger Picture: Public Trust Eroding
The Trabablas Interchange fiasco is not merely about aesthetics — it’s about a national breach of trust.
• Where are the promised quality checks?
• Where is the landscaping that was part of the original model?
• Why are international best practices being ignored in favor of speed and political optics?
• Who benefited from the $88 million?
The Question That Won’t Go Away
So if you were face-to-face with Obey Chimuka today, what would you say?
Perhaps the most fitting question is this:
“Sir, if this is what $88 million looks like under your watch — how much would a proper interchange actually cost?”
And more critically:
“What does this say about Zimbabwe’s future when the present is built on such deception?”
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As the ribbon is cut and officials celebrate, the nation remains unconvinced. The people are not asking for miracles — just delivery that matches the promise. For now, the Trabablas Interchange stands as a concrete monument to what Zimbabwe could have been, but never quite becomes.- ZimEye