It
has become quite interesting, annoying and frustrating all at the same time, living
in Harare. My aunt once said the city has somehow transformed into the cliché
African city that you are likely to find Leonardo Dicaprio in for an African
scene.
On
a normal day, what you will find is unbelievably dirty and crowded streets. I
honestly wonder what the City Council is doing if not cleaning and decongesting
our streets. Speaking of decongesting our streets, it beats me how at all they
could think they are doing just that when all they have managed to do is cause
a lot of chaos where kombis are concerned.
Once
upon a time walking in town used to be safe. Now it’s dangerous for you might
just end up at the morgue because you got hit and run by a kombi being chased
by the Council police! What is up with that? We would rather have things be
left as they are, until proper infrastructure has been built to accommodate all
public transport. Because as it is, the “cops
and robbers” scenario is ridiculous!
The
interesting aspect comes from what we could call “street entertainment”. If you
live in the city and frequent the CBD, down town especially, then you would
most probably have seen street preachers and street entertainers as well. The
preachers could raise quite a controversial argument. Are they genuine or are
they seeking to make a quick buck whilst they appear to be “holy”? It reminds
one though, of the ancient Greek preachers and philosophers who would stand in
the streets and preach and teach lol. The entertainers vary in artistic
discipline. Some are performers and some ‘athletes’, like the biker who usually
frequents the spot by corner Speke and Rezende.
Justice
would not have been made to the chaos in Harare if we neglected to talk of the
street vendors. They are everywhere! The sidewalks seem to have become their
permanent places of work. Their merchandise varies from dvds, hair products,
stationery, vegetables, articles of clothing... the list is endless!!!
To
think Harare was once called the Sunshine City. To say that now, would seem a
mockery. If nobody does anything to rectify this, we are never going to
recognize our city again!
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