THE Mbare Old Boys and Girls Association (MOBGA) are working to turnaround the face of Mbare, Harare’s oldest suburb’s infrastructure.
By Winstone Antonio
Misheck Muzambi, treasurer general of the association, said the organisation is made up of individuals who grew up in the suburb and have teamed up to rehabilitate infrastructure and initiate income-generating projects to assist the youth.
“We are an association made up of former residents and current residents of Mbare. We realised the state of infrastructure was appalling and decided to form this group to turnaround the face of our suburb,” said Muzambi.
Infrastructure in the suburb has deteriorated to shocking levels with roads and recreational facilities now resembling those found in war-torn zones.
However, this could be a thing of the past if initiatives set out by MOBGA come to pass.
The association has already started slashing grass at several facilities like Ground Seven in Mbare.
Muzambi said the association had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Harare City Council (HCC) that will culminate in the setting up of a plant to convert waste into energy.
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According to Muzambi, the multi-million dollar project is expected to create jobs for youths in the suburb as well as augment the power-generation capacity of the city.
“We have a MOU with the mayor to set up a plant that will convert waste into energy and this plant will create employment for the youth and upkeep of our infrastructure,” he said.
Another project the association is pursuing is the setting up of big screens in partnership with Multi-choice to beam live football matches played at Rufaro Stadium to afford those who would have failed to access the stadium an opportunity to follow the game.
The association intends to revitalise and run Blue Bar, directing revenue generated to resuscitate the community’s infrastructure and recreational facilities.
Muzambi said the bulk of recreational facilities in the suburb were in poor condition depriving the youths of leisure centres which his generation had enjoyed.
He said the absence of recreational centres had led to the rise in substance abuse by the youth as they had no recreational activities to keep them occupied.
Among the facilities earmarked for rehabilitation are the George Hartley swimming pool which has been lying idle and Stoddart Hall which is underutilised.
Muzambi said Mbare had the potential of becoming a tourist attraction like Soweto as it had a rich history and produced some of Zimbabwe’s great luminaries.
Among some of the prominent personalities who grew up in Mbare are former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Leornard Tsumba, Register-General Tobaiwa Mudede, Lands and Land Resettlement minister Herbert Murerwa and Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma.
Muzambi said the association had already approached some of its great sons and daughters to support them and the bulk had joined the organisation.
