Sharon Chigeza
Garahwa, CHIPINGE-In the forgotten southern reaches of Zimbabwe, where the red earth of Chipinge District meets the Mozambican border just seven kilometres away, the people of Garahwa had grown accustomed to silence.
For generations, this remote community, baked by a relentless semi-arid climate and battered by seasonal floods, existed in a peculiar isolation – physically within Zimbabwe’s borders yet functionally severed from the nation’s pulse. The cruel irony was not lost on villagers who, when needing to make urgent calls, found themselves dependent on Mozambican mobile networks, their voices literally traveling through foreign infrastructure before reaching their own countrymen.
This communication blackout created a parallel existence where national news arrived weeks late, where farmers sold their crops at whatever price visiting traders offered-relying mostly on barter trade with neighbouring Mozambique- and where impending disasters like Cyclone Idai in 2019 descended upon them without warning.
Village Head Edson Danga still carries the trauma of those desperate hours when floodwaters rose without alert, swallowing homes and livelihoods while Garahwa’s cries for help went unheard.
“We were shouting into the wind. The world moved on while we buried our dead and rebuilt with bare hands,” he recalls, his voice thickening with emotion.
That all changed when the steel skeleton of hope rose against Garahwa’s skies – a multipurpose transmission tower that would become the community’s lifeline to the world.
The project, spearheaded by Transmedia Corporation with crucial support from UNDP and UNESCO, faced immediate technical challenges. Located far from the national power grid, the solution came in the form of gleaming solar panels that now hum quietly beside the tower, harnessing the same sun that had long scorched Garahwa’s fields.
The transformation has been nothing short of miraculous. Where once there was radio silence, the airwaves now carry the vibrant programming of Ndau FM, the community radio station that has become Garahwa’s central nervous system. The station’s early warning weather system, installed at its studio, represents more than technology but a promise that no family will again face nature’s fury unprepared.
“Now when storms gather, our phones buzz with alerts, our radios crackle with informative messages,” explains Danga, demonstrating how the system reaches across a 70-kilometer radius.
Radio is a complimentary component in promoting agriculture and rural development as it is the most effective medium in rural areas. Community participation is vital for radio to succeed as a medium of communication.
Speaking during a tour of Ndau Community Radio Station in Garahwa, Chief Director in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Jonathan Gandari applauded the efficient use of renewable energy to power up the community radio station.
He stated that access to radio promotes inclusivity of underserved communities in the national development agenda.
“Radio is an important communication tool and essential in driving President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Vision of an upper middle class income economy by the year 2030. Now that such communities are connected, they can now contribute effectively to the development and rural industrialisation agenda,” he said.
For Esther Makuyana, a mother who once relied on handwritten letters carried by unpredictable transport to communicate with her sister in Checheche, the tower has rewritten the rules of relationships.
“I remember watching trucks get stuck in mud during rains, our letters being washed away in their cabins,” she says, cradling a smartphone that now connects her instantly to family across the country.
“Now I communicate with my granddaughter in Harare every Sunday through local calls.”
The economic ripples spread daily. At the bustling new marketplace, farmers cluster around smartphones checking commodity prices before negotiating with buyers. Mobile money agents, once a two-day journey away, now operate from zinc-roofed stalls where EcoCash transactions ping instantly across digital networks.
A half-built business centre stands as testament to growing ambitions, its concrete blocks waiting to house the entrepreneurs emerging from Garahwa’s connected renaissance.
Transmedia Corporation’s Chief Executive, Engineer Adonia Mashosho, views the Garahwa project as more than infrastructure.
“This tower did not just bridge a communication gap,” he reflects, watching villagers gather under its shadow for a community meeting broadcast live on Ndau FM. “It restored dignity. These people no longer need to beg for signals from neighbouring countries. Their Zimbabwean SIM cards work in their Zimbabwean homes,” he said.
Zimbabwe is steadily marching towards its Vision 2030 goal of becoming an upper-middle income economy.
Central to this vision is ensuring that every Zimbabwean has access to the tools and opportunities needed to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
In this regard, rural digitisation is not just a dream, but a necessity.
It is against this background that the Government is doing everything possible to make sure that anyone in the rural who has a business that needs investment gets adequate assistance to expand business opportunities-communication technology being key to such.
Government, through its various initiatives, has laid the groundwork for transforming rural communities by distributing digital gadgets and improving access to technology.
It has also focused on infrastructure development to support rural digitisation. Thus, in collaboration with telecoms companies, efforts have been made to expand network coverage to remote areas.
The ongoing rollout of 5G technology and the construction of base stations in underserved regions are steps in the right direction.
These developments are crucial for ensuring that rural communities can access the internet reliably, enabling them to benefit from e-learning platforms, telemedicine services and e-commerce.
Government is promoting rural digitisation as part of a broader strategy to ensure no-one is left behind in Zimbabwe’s development trajectory.
In prioritising rural areas, Government is addressing historical inequalities and empowering communities to contribute to the country’s economic growth.
By bringing remote areas into the digital world, Zimbabwe can unlock the full potential of its human capital, driving innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth.
As twilight paints the sky in hues of orange and purple, the tower’s blinking lights pulse like a heartbeat across the landscape. In its glow, children do homework by solar lamp while their parents check weather forecasts on mobile phones.
The elderly listen as Ndau FM broadcasts news in their native language, Ndau, their faces illuminated by something beyond the physical light – the radiance of inclusion.
Garahwa’s story no longer begins with “once isolated” but with “now connected.” The tower stands not just as steel and wire, but as a monument to what happens when a nation decides that no community is too remote, no citizen too far, and no voice too small to be heard. In this forgotten corner of Zimbabwe, silence has been replaced by the beautiful noise of belonging.
