The ZANU PF-led government has decided to change the name of Mbudzi roundabout to Trabablas Interchange.
The name “Trabablas” is associated with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, as it was his nom de guerre (war name) during the country’s liberation war.
At a post-Cabinet briefing in Harare on Tuesday, Information Minister Jenfan Muswere announced that the renaming was intended to honour Mnangagwa’s “visionary leadership.”
The proposal for the name change, put forward by Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi in his role as acting chairperson of the Cabinet Committee on Place Names, has been officially approved. Said Muswere said:
Cabinet wishes to advise that upon completion, the Mbudzi Interchange will be named “Trabablas Interchange” in recognition of the visionary leadership of His Excellency the President Cde Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.
Muswere also said the Cabinet also received and approved the renaming of Headquarters 1 Infantry Brigade, Headquarters Bulawayo District and Zimbabwe School of Infantry Army Barracks. He said:
Following the promulgation of a Defence Cantonment Notice of 2017 and the subsequent renaming of Headquarters 1 Infantry Brigade, Headquarters Bulawayo District and the Zimbabwe School of Infantry, Cabinet has now directed that the Army Barracks should retain their original names.
Accordingly, Headquarters1 now retains the name Khumalo Barracks; Headquarters Bulawayo District retains the name Imbizo Barracks; and the Zimbabwe School of Infantry be renamed Lookout Masuku Barracks.
The renaming of the Mbudzi Interchange to Trabablas Interchange has been met with widespread scorn and disbelief among the public.
Critics argue that such a renaming distracts from pressing national issues and fails to address the everyday challenges faced by ordinary Zimbabweans.
Some have taken to social media to voice their frustrations. Advocate Tino Chinyoka tweeted:
There is a man that used to own the football club that I support. For 14 years 4 months and around 14 days he owned it. He decided to rename our football stadium “Sports Direct Arena”.
Not nobody, not anywhere, ever bothered with that nonsense. It remained then, and remains now after he is gone: St James’ Park.
More: Pindula News