City of Kwekwe Overview

Kwekwe is a city in Zimbabwe located in the Midlands province of the country. The Midlands province is literally in the middle of the country. Before becoming a city in the 90s it was a town run by a Town Council. The city has a population of not more than 150 000. It is a founded mostly on gold mining.

In fact Kwekwe has many gold mines surrounding it. It was first established by pioneers in the colonial times. Since then gold mining has continued until recent times when deposits are said to have diminished leaving most of the mines derelict. To this day construction of skyscraper buildings in the city's CBD is almost impossible due to underground disused mine shafts that makes the ground unstable for heavy buildings.

The city of Kwekwe also grew in the 1980s and 1990s due to steel production in nearby Redcliff. Redcliff which is an independent town council relies on Kwekwe for manpower supply in the steel industry at Ziscosteel a government owned multi-million dollar owned steel manufacturing concern. For this reason Kwekwe and Redcliff have been for a long time strategy towns for Zimbabwe's economy. Numerous other smaller steel concerns also sprouted in and around Kwekwe as a result of Ziscosteel and Zimasco. Sable Chemicals a manufacturer of fertilizer used in farming has also contributed to the city's economic activity.

Since the start of Zimbabwe's problems which essentially covered economics and politics, the city suffered ongoing decay driven by the falling value of Zimbabwe dollar. This obviously affected infrastructure across Kwekwe as a city. Roads and buildings suffered major degradation with no end in sight.

Kwekwe has a radius of over 80km and includes suburbs and townships such as Mbizo, Amaveni, Msasa, New Town, Chicago and others. Today the city is essentially a service city with less and less people employed in the once prospering steel industry. Politically Kwekwe is in the full control of the opposition to Zanu PF party  MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Since 2000 residents of Kwekwe have consistently rejected ZANU PF rule.

There is some but little tourism activity in Kwekwe which includes hunting and fishing. The city has a few game parks which are also attractive to a few tourists. Places to stay in Kwekwe would be Golden Mile Motel and Shamwari Hotel both located very close to the CBD. There are also other few lodges and B&B facilities for any overnight or short stay.

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