HARARE NEEDS A RECOVERY STRATEGY, NOT A CLEAN-UP ALONE
By HRH Princess Eugene Majuru
Sovereign Custodian of the Mbari Clan and Harare
24 September 2026 Email : harareprincess@gmail.com
Hon. Minister Dr Daniel Garwe,
I write to you following your recent involvement in the Government-supported operation to regenerate, clean and decongest Harare.
I recognise that Government and Harare City Council have a responsibility to restore order, protect public spaces, maintain cleanliness and ensure that municipal by-laws are respected.
I also recognise the socio-economic difficulties facing informal traders and the need for any enforcement programme to be conducted humanely.
However, Minister, I believe Zimbabwe now needs to have a much bigger conversation about why Harare reached this point in the first place.
A capital city does not deteriorate overnight.
A business community does not gradually migrate from a CBD simply because vendors appear on pavements.
Roads do not develop potholes overnight.
Water systems do not become inadequate overnight.
Traffic congestion does not suddenly appear.
Parking does not become a nightmare overnight.
Public toilets do not become dysfunctional overnight.
Municipal services do not collapse overnight.
These are the consequences of years of accumulated problems.
And after more than a decade of complaints, warnings and representations, we must now ask a difficult question:
Where has the national oversight been?
MINISTER, YOU WERE IN THE CBD — BUT DID YOU SEE THE WHOLE PROBLEM?
On 9 September 2026, you joined Mayor Jacob Mafume to launch the Urban Regeneration and Decongestion Operation in Harare. The city described the programme as an effort to restore order, reclaim public spaces and address illegal trading in undesignated areas.
You subsequently accompanied the Mayor on a CBD tour to monitor the operation.
The operation has focused significantly on vending, congestion, public spaces, cleanliness and enforcement. The city has stated that vendors operating illegally should relocate to designated vending areas.
But when you walked through Harare’s CBD, Minister, I hope you also looked beyond the pavements.
I hope you looked at the roads.
I hope you looked at the traffic.
I hope you looked at the parking situation.
I hope you considered the water situation.
I hope you considered the electricity challenges.
I hope you looked at the condition of public facilities.
I hope you considered why businesses have increasingly found it necessary or desirable to operate outside the CBD.
Because removing vendors is not the same thing as regenerating a city.
WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT’S DIAGNOSIS OF HARARE’S PROBLEM?
our Ministry’s own parliamentary record shows that Government recognises that local authorities face challenges in service delivery, including road maintenance, road rehabilitation and water supply.
That acknowledgement is important.
But acknowledgement must now be followed by measurable action.
Harare City Council’s own published information says its water infrastructure was originally designed for a much smaller population and that significant upgrading has not kept pace with population growth. The Council also acknowledges ageing infrastructure and frequent breakdowns.
The City’s Works Department similarly acknowledges longstanding road-maintenance and capital constraints.
These facts tell us something important:
Harare’s crisis is structural.
It cannot be solved through enforcement alone.
WHY ARE BUSINESSES LEAVING THE CBD?
I strongly challenge the narrative that vendors are the principal explanation for businesses relocating to the suburbs.
Informal trading may contribute to congestion and obstruction of public spaces, and those issues must be properly managed.
But businesses make relocation decisions based on a much broader set of considerations.
They need:
- reliable water;
- electricity;
- functioning roads;
- accessible parking;
- manageable traffic;
- security;
- sanitation;
- waste collection;
- predictable municipal services;
- reasonable operating costs;
- and an environment in which customers can reach them.
Some businesses operating outside the CBD can secure alternative water through boreholes or tankers and have greater access to private parking.
The CBD faces different physical and infrastructure constraints.
Therefore, Minister, before Government attributes business migration primarily to vendors, I ask Government to commission an independent study of why businesses are leaving the Harare CBD.
Ask the businesses.
Ask the property owners.
Ask the employees.
Ask the customers.
Ask the transport operators.
Ask the residents.
Then publish the findings.
Let the evidence speak.
HARARE’S ROADS ARE A NATIONAL CONCERN
Harare is not an ordinary town.
It is Zimbabwe’s capital.
It is the country’s principal administrative centre and one of its major commercial and economic centres.
The City’s own documentation describes Harare as the country’s industrial and commercial hub and acknowledges serious road-maintenance challenges.
Yet the condition of some of Harare’s roads is becoming increasingly difficult to defend.
Two days ago, I drove around the city myself.
I saw roads with potholes and deteriorating surfaces that should concern anyone responsible for public infrastructure.
Vehicles continue to increase.
Traffic continues to increase.
Population continues to increase.
Economic activity continues to place pressure on the road network.
But where is the corresponding infrastructure expansion?
Where is the metropolitan traffic-management strategy?
Where is the long-term road-rehabilitation programme?
Where is the integrated public transport strategy?
Where is the strategy for managing the growing vehicle population?
We cannot continue putting more vehicles onto an increasingly compromised road network and then blame the resulting congestion on informal traders.
WATER IS NOT A VENDING PROBLEM
Water is another fundamental issue.
Harare City’s own water department acknowledges that its infrastructure is inadequate for current demand and that much of the infrastructure is ageing.
This affects everyone.
It affects households.
It affects hospitals.
It affects schools.
It affects restaurants.
It affects manufacturers.
It affects offices.
It affects shops.
It affects investors.
And it affects the attractiveness of the CBD as a commercial environment.
A city cannot seriously promote itself as a modern commercial centre when businesses must constantly make contingency arrangements simply to secure basic services.
PUBLIC TOILETS AND BASIC DIGNITY
Minister, I also ask you to look at the basic things.
Can Harare reliably maintain public toilets?
Can it provide clean water?
Can it collect refuse consistently?
Can it maintain roads?
Can it keep drainage systems functioning?
Can it provide adequate public transport infrastructure?
Can it create properly serviced markets?
These are not extravagant demands.
These are the foundations of a functioning city.
If a municipality struggles to provide these basic services, the answer cannot simply be to ask whether it can remove people from pavements.
The more important question is:
Why has the city been allowed to deteriorate to this point?
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PEOPLE AFTER THE CLEAN-UP?
I ask Government to consider something else.
When vendors are removed from pavements, where do they go?
When informal traders are displaced, what happens to their livelihoods?
When structures are demolished, what happens to families?
When enforcement officers arrive, what safeguards protect children and vulnerable people?
The Government has said the current operation will involve awareness, education and designated vending spaces alongside enforcement.
That is welcome in principle.
But the test is implementation.
Are the alternative trading areas genuinely adequate?
Do they have water?
Do they have toilets?
Do they have waste collection?
Do they have security?
Do they have lighting?
Do they have customer access?
Can traders realistically earn a living there?
If the answer to these questions is no, then relocation may simply move the problem rather than solve it.
HUMAN DIGNITY MUST REMAIN AT THE CENTRE
Minister, I want to make this absolutely clear.
I am not defending disorder.
I am defending humanity.
There is a difference.
Rules are necessary.
Law enforcement is necessary.
Urban planning is necessary.
Public spaces must be protected.
But every person encountered by the State remains a human being.
Whether that person is a millionaire businessman or a woman selling vegetables on a pavement, they deserve dignity.
Whether someone lives in Borrowdale or in a high-density suburb, their life matters.
Whether someone owns a company or survives through informal trading, their children matter.
Government must never become so focused on achieving an orderly-looking city that it forgets the human beings whose lives are being affected by its decisions.
DEMOLITIONS AND ENFORCEMENT REQUIRE MORE THAN FORCE
I am particularly concerned about reports and public discussion surrounding demolitions and enforcement operations in urban and rural areas.
Where structures are unlawful, the law must be applied.
But the existence of a legal power does not remove the need for humanity, due process and proportionality.
Government should always ask:
Can this problem be resolved without unnecessary trauma?
Can there be consultation before confrontation?
Can alternatives be provided before livelihoods are destroyed?
Can children and vulnerable families be protected?
There is almost always a better way to resolve a problem than simply reaching for force.
WHERE IS THE LONG-TERM HARARE PLAN?
Minister, this is perhaps my most important question.
What is the Government’s long-term plan for Harare?
Not the plan for next week.
Not the plan for the next clean-up operation.
Not the plan for removing vendors.
I am asking about the next ten, twenty and thirty years.
What will Harare look like?
How will water be supplied?
How will traffic be managed?
Where will businesses operate?
Where will people live?
How will public transport function?
How will informal trading be accommodated?
How will roads be financed and maintained?
How will public spaces be protected?
How will heritage be protected?
How will traditional custodians be incorporated into heritage and development discussions?
How will the CBD be regenerated?
And who will be responsible when targets are not met?
HARARE NEEDS A METROPOLITAN RECOVERY PLAN
I therefore call upon your Ministry to work with Harare City Council and other relevant authorities to establish a Harare Metropolitan Recovery and Development Plan.
This should not be another document that sits on a shelf.
It should contain:
- A CBD recovery strategy
With measurable targets for:
- businesses retained;
- businesses attracted;
- infrastructure;
- parking;
- sanitation;
- roads;
- water;
- security;
- public transport;
- public spaces.
- A road rehabilitation programme
Every major road should have:
- a condition assessment;
- a rehabilitation priority;
- an estimated cost;
- an identified funding source;
- a responsible institution;
- and a completion date.
- A water infrastructure programme
Harare’s water infrastructure needs long-term investment rather than endless emergency interventions.
- A properly designed informal economy strategy
Vendors should be integrated into the urban economy through properly planned and serviced markets rather than treated simply as a nuisance to be removed.
- A metropolitan transport strategy
Harare needs serious planning for:
- buses;
- commuter transport;
- traffic management;
- parking;
- pedestrian movement;
- freight;
- road expansion;
- and future population growth.
- A public accountability mechanism
Citizens should be able to see:
What was promised.
Who is responsible.
How much was allocated.
What has been completed.
What remains outstanding.
AND THEN THERE IS THE QUESTION OF HERITAGE
Minister, I also wish to raise an issue that goes beyond infrastructure.
I speak as Sovereign Custodian of the Mbari Clan and Harare.
The Mbari clan’s historical and spiritual relationship with Harare forms part of the heritage narrative that I represent.
I am not asking traditional custodians to replace elected government.
I am asking for meaningful recognition that modern governance and traditional heritage knowledge can coexist.
A city is not simply concrete.
A city has memory.
A city has history.
A city has communities whose relationship with its land predates modern administrative structures.
Harare’s heritage should therefore be documented, protected and incorporated into the city’s future planning.
I would like to see a formal platform through which traditional custodians, historians, heritage specialists and Government can engage on Harare’s cultural and historical identity.
The Mbari clan should not be remembered only when there is a spiritual problem.
Traditional custodians should be part of the conversation about the future of the land and heritage with which they are historically connected.
I AM ASKING YOU TO ENGAGE WITH US
Minister, I am not writing this letter simply to criticise.
I am asking for engagement.
I am prepared to sit down with you.
I am prepared to meet with your officials.
I am prepared to present ideas.
I am prepared to bring together people who have practical knowledge of Harare’s challenges.
I believe that the people who live, work and have historical connections to Harare should be part of the solution.
Government cannot solve every problem alone.
Council cannot solve every problem alone.
Traditional custodians cannot solve every problem alone.
Businesses cannot solve every problem alone.
But together, with honest leadership and proper coordination, we can begin rebuilding the city.
MY QUESTIONS TO YOU, MINISTER
I respectfully request that your Ministry respond to the following:
- What is the Government’s comprehensive plan for the regeneration of Harare beyond the current clean-up and decongestion operation?
- Has Government independently assessed why businesses are leaving the Harare CBD?
- What is Government doing to address Harare’s water infrastructure deficit?
- What is the Government’s strategy for the rehabilitation and maintenance of Harare’s roads?
- What is the national strategy for addressing Harare’s growing traffic and parking problems?
- What safeguards are in place to ensure enforcement operations respect human dignity and due process?
- What alternatives are being provided to informal traders displaced from undesignated areas?
- How will Government measure whether the current operation has actually improved Harare’s economy and quality of life?
- What mechanisms exist for citizens whose complaints to local authorities receive no meaningful response?
- Will your Ministry establish a formal stakeholder platform involving businesses, residents, informal traders, technical experts and traditional custodians of Harare’s heritage?
- Will you meet with me in my capacity as Sovereign Custodian of the Mbari Clan and Harare to discuss the role that heritage and traditional knowledge can play in the future development of Harare?
MINISTER, HARARE CANNOT BE SAVED BY ENFORCEMENT ALONE
You have an opportunity to demonstrate that Government’s intervention in Harare is about much more than removing vendors from pavements.
Make this the beginning of a genuine urban recovery programme.
Let us deal with the roads.
Let us deal with water.
Let us deal with electricity.
Let us deal with parking.
Let us deal with traffic.
Let us deal with public toilets.
Let us deal with refuse.
Let us deal with urban planning.
Let us deal with business migration.
Let us deal with informal trading.
Let us deal with accountability.
And let us deal with the human beings at the centre of all these problems.
Do not simply clean Harare. Rebuild Harare.
Do not simply remove people.
Build systems that work for people.
Do not simply enforce the law.
Build confidence in the institutions enforcing it.
Do not simply talk about a world-class city.
Build one.
MY FINAL APPEAL
Hon. Minister, I speak as someone whose heart is deeply connected to Harare.
As Sovereign Custodian of the Mbari Clan and Harare, I cannot watch the capital deteriorate and remain silent.
I believe Harare can be restored.
I believe its economy can be revitalised.
I believe businesses can be encouraged to return.
I believe informal traders can be accommodated within a properly planned urban economy.
I believe the roads can be repaired.
I believe water infrastructure can be rebuilt.
I believe the City can become cleaner, safer and more functional.
But it will require something that has been missing for too long:
genuine collaboration.
Work with the people.
Work with businesses.
Work with residents.
Work with informal traders.
Work with professionals.
Work with traditional custodians.
Work with the people for the people.
Harare does not need another decade of promises.
Harare needs action.
It needs accountability.
It needs competence.
It needs planning.
It needs investment.
And above all, it needs Ubuntu — the recognition that every human being deserves dignity and respect.
Minister, I have spoken.
Those with ears to hear have heard.
We now expect to see real change.
Not cosmetic change.
Not temporary change.
Real change.
HRH Princess Eugene Majuru
Sovereign Custodian of the Mbari Clan and Harare
Comments
About Author
