By Desire Tshuma
MASVINGO — The hum of haulage trucks and the ululation of residents filled the air in Masvingo as Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Honourable Advocate Felix Mhona, commissioned the new Mucheke (Chevron) River Bridge, the latest landmark in Zimbabwe’s accelerating road upgrade programme on Thursday.
Addressing engineers, community leaders, and motorists gathered at the site, Minister Mhona said the bridge represents more than steel and concrete. “What we are witnessing today is the physical expression of a promise,” he said. “A promise that no region will be cut off from opportunity by poor infrastructure. The Mucheke River Bridge restores dignity to this corridor and momentum to our economy.”
The structure replaces a decades-old single-lane crossing that had forced vehicles into long queues, especially during peak agricultural and holiday traffic. The new dualised bridge carries reinforced barriers, wide shoulders, and high-visibility markings designed for heavy regional freight.
Minister Mhona framed the Mucheke handover as part of a broader pattern. Since assuming office, he has cut ribbons on a string of crossings that once slowed the Harare–Beitbridge artery the Mupfure, Manyame, Mwenezi, Bubi, and Runde River Bridges now stand complete. Beyond bridges, dualised stretches through Chivhu, Mvuma, and Gweru are carrying traffic, while the Trabablas Interchange has reshaped movement in Harare. In the east, the Rwenya Bridge reconnected communities in Manicaland.
He also singled out the Bulawayo–Kezi–Maphisa–Gwanda Road, a project he described as “strategic and symbolic.” The newly constructed road was greenlit and lauded for creating smooth access to Maphisa in Matabeleland South Province, which recently hosted national Independence Day commemorations. “When we take the Uhuru flame to every province, the road must go there first,” Mhona said. “That road proved that infrastructure is the foundation of national unity.”
The Minister linked each project to Vision 2030 and the Second Republic’s mantra of development that leaves no one behind. “We are building kilometre by kilometre,” he said. “Each bridge we open shortens the distance between a farmer and a market. Each road we dualise cuts the cost of doing business. This is how we convert policy into pavement.”
He urged citizens to become custodians of the new assets. “Overloading cracks bridges. Vandalism steals from our children. Speed kills families. Let us protect what we have built together.”
The Harare–Beitbridge rehabilitation, now past the halfway mark, remains the flagship. But Mhona was clear that the programme is national in scope, with works also active on the Harare–Chirundu Highway and the Masvingo–Mashava corridor.
With the Mucheke River Bridge now operational, traffic that once crawled across the city’s edge can flow uninterrupted. For cross-border truckers, it shaves minutes. For Masvingo residents, it restores a link they use daily. For the Ministry, it is another tick on a long checklist.
“We are not done,” Minister Mhona said before departing the site. “There is another bridge, another road, another community waiting. We move to the next milestone.”
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