News that a Roman Catholic-sponsored teachers’ training college will open in Karoi has stirred something unfamiliar across Hurungwe: cautious hope.
For nearly a decade, residents have watched ambitious projects collapse under the weight of politics, corruption, incompetence, and neglect. Promises were made, land allocated, meetings held — then silence followed. The district became a graveyard of unfinished dreams. This time feels different. And for me, it is personal.
I was there in 2016 when another college project died quietly while those with influence looked away. My Financial Gazette investigation: Plans for Agric College in Hurungwe Frustrated, exposed how political interference derailed efforts to establish an agricultural college at Nyamanda Farm, about eight kilometres east of Karoi.
The farm had everything required for a functional training institution: irrigation infrastructure, cattle pens, storage sheds, and productive land suitable for crop and livestock training.
In the early 2000s, during the height of Zimbabwe’s land reform programme, Hurungwe district officials earmarked it for an agricultural college. The proposal made economic sense.
Hurungwe is Zimbabwe’s second-largest district, covering nearly 20 000 square kilometres. It has fertile soils, better rainfall patterns than much of the country, and once formed part of the nation’s breadbasket. Grain Marketing Board depots in Karoi, Magunje and Mkwichi once handled huge volumes of maize and tobacco.
But by 2015, the silos stood largely empty.
Then Nyamanda Farm was reallocated to the brother of a former cabinet minister and left underutilised. The college project died. So did an opportunity to equip thousands of young people with modern agricultural skills.
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Former Hurungwe Rural District Council chairperson Godfrey Beremauro summed up the tragedy at the time: “As politicians in Hurungwe, we are now our worst enemies because we are divided.”
The district was represented by five Zanu PF legislators. None succeeded in pushing the project forward. Agriculture extension officers privately admitted their recommendations had gathered dust for years.
“We have raised this issue on several occasions as it will make our work easier, but we have not seen urgency in it,” one officer told me then.
That frustration became symbolic of Hurungwe itself — rich in potential, poor in execution. Karoi’s story is not only about one failed college. It is about a district where public trust slowly collapsed after years of abandoned projects and squandered opportunities.
EU-funded market stalls along the Harare-Chirundu highway remain incomplete years after construction began. Similar facilities at Kutepa and Hwata business centres sit underutilised. An EU diplomat once visited Karoi to investigate after revelations of alleged abuse of public funds.
A proposed upgrade of Chikangwe Stadium also collapsed after council officials rejected an investor’s plan to build a multi-disciplinary sports complex. The investor later left the country.
In Chiedza, poorly planned market buildings have deteriorated while vendors continue operating from the streets because the structures lack water, electricity, and security.
Perhaps most painful is the maternity equipment donated by Dutch NGO Zim-Health, which has remained unused since 2015 after authorities condemned the project because of poor planning. Thousands of women in Chikangwe continue relying on Karoi District Hospital instead.
The pattern became painfully familiar: launch, delay, collapse. That history explains why residents no longer celebrate announcements. They ask tougher questions:
Who is managing the project? Will it still exist in two years? Is this another false start?
Different mood in 2026
Last Friday, I attended a stakeholders’ meeting in Karoi where the atmosphere felt markedly different from the despair of 2016.
Among those present was Friend Ngirazi, who served as Hurungwe’s acting district assistant administrator during the failed agricultural college saga. Today, he is assistant district development coordinator — one of the few officials still around to witness both stories.
The meeting brought together councillors, church leaders, provincial officials, and residents’ associations. There were no grand political slogans. Only cautious determination.
Karoi Town Council chairperson Alderman Kudakwashe Chigumo spoke emotionally about the significance of the project.
“As Karoi and Hurungwe, we are hungry for development. The teachers’ training college is what we all want now rather than later,” he said.
For 13 years as councillor, Chigumo said he had watched projects repeatedly collapse despite endless meetings and resolutions. Now, he believes the Catholic Church has brought credibility and follow-through.
“Today, I stand before you with conviction that the Catholic Church has done justice for Karoi, Hurungwe and Mashonaland West province at large,” he said.
Council has already allocated a 50-hectare plot for the institution within its planned development corridor, alongside a newly-constructed clinic in Chiedza. Authorities hope the area evolves into a hub for education, health services, housing, and commerce.
Unlike many projects that arrived loudly and disappeared quietly, the Catholic Church pursued a slower, more deliberate approach.
Reverend Kenneth Mapanda confirmed that the institution has now received approval from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and is expected to begin classes in September.
Initially, lectures will be conducted at Chinhoyi Pastoral Centre while construction begins on the permanent Karoi campus.
The church first applied for the land in 2019, then largely disappeared from public view for years. That silence frustrated many residents. But in hindsight, it may have shielded the project from local political interference while approvals and partnerships were secured quietly behind the scenes.
When church officials resurfaced in last week, they returned with documentation, approvals, and timelines — not speeches.
Groundbreaking is scheduled for June 4.
The proposed teachers’ college arrives at a critical moment for Hurungwe. For years, many young people in the district have faced a bleak set of options: subsistence farming, informal mining, migration, drugs, or early marriage.
Schools across rural Hurungwe continue struggling with acute teacher shortages. A local training institution could help supply educators while creating a professional pathway for young people who previously saw few opportunities beyond survival.
The economic effects could also be significant. A tertiary institution changes the rhythm of a town. Student accommodation expands. Transport operators gain business. Banks, retailers, food suppliers, and private clinics begin recalculating market demand. Construction alone injects money into the local economy.
Karoi once thrived because agriculture sustained local commerce. Tobacco, maize, and horticulture kept shops busy and trucks moving. Today, much of that vibrancy has faded.
The teachers’ college will not revive agro-industry overnight. But it could become the anchor institution around which a new local economy emerges. This is how struggling towns rebuild themselves — one credible institution at a time.
Three major shifts appear to have made this project possible.
First, the Catholic Church avoided the political noise that destroyed earlier initiatives. Instead of chasing publicity, it focused on approvals, planning, and long-term implementation.
Second, previous failed projects exposed the destructive cost of corruption. Organisations such as the Tererai Trend Foundation reportedly abandoned plans for a university in Karoi after some local actors allegedly demanded inducements during negotiations.
Those failures carried reputational costs for the district.
Third, the political landscape has changed. Some of the individuals who once blocked consensus are no longer active in public life. With fewer competing interests, agreement became easier.
Journalism alone does not build colleges. But it can make neglect harder to hide.
The 2016 story documenting the collapse of the agricultural college proposal became part of Hurungwe’s institutional memory. It forced uncomfortable discussions in provincial meetings and kept public attention fixed on the district’s development failures.
At times, reporting these stories came at personal cost. There were moments of hostility, blacklisting, and pressure. Yet journalism, particularly in neglected communities, remains one of the few tools ordinary citizens have to challenge silence and demand accountability.
Media creates a record. It creates pressure. And sometimes, over time, it creates change.
Officials later admitted that the earlier reporting formed part of the background reviewed when the Catholic Church’s application resurfaced.
That matters because development rarely begins with bulldozers. It often begins when communities refuse to forget abandoned promises.
Hurungwe’s history encourages caution.
The district has mastered the art of beginning strongly and ending weakly. The abandoned market stalls, the collapsed agricultural college, the stalled sports complex, and the unused maternity equipment all stand as reminders that good intentions are not enough.
But there are reasons this moment feels different. The land is secured. Government approval has been granted. The church has a proven track record in education. And the community is watching closely.
If Karoi Teachers’ College opens in September, it will represent more than a new institution. It will prove that persistence can eventually overcome paralysis. That communities can still reclaim abandoned futures. That development outside Harare and Bulawayo remains possible.
Most importantly, it could give young people in Hurungwe something the district has lacked for years: A professional path, a reason to stay, and hope that their future can be built at home. The seed is finally in the ground. Now Hurungwe waits to see whether it grows.
