adminof women were gossiping while their children were playing wantonly along the densely-populated and potholed street which resembled a disused colonial airstrip.
Smoke billowed from almost every corner as families prepared meals on outside fires following a power cut.
A haulage truck was parked dangerously along the street, obstructing both human and vehicular traffic, but that did not stop people from continuing with their lives as if nothing was happened.
Young men who were filling potholes made sure no motorist passed without giving them a token.
By the way, it is compulsory to pay for using the road and that money should not be less than a dollar.
Ukabhadhara risiri dhora, unoigochera pautsi!
On inquiring why his car was being washed without arrangement, this writer was quickly reminded of the high unemployment rate.
“Mudhara, graft hakuna saka todya marara here? Unongotipa katwati totsvaga kamudhako nemusvuto kuti zviendeke,” one of the boys told this writer straight in the face.
To put icing on the already poisoned cake, one of the youths sought to sell weed to me.
“Shasha tinogona kukupa Malawi Gold, imwewo izere mhodzi kana kamwe kablow kekungoti muswere bhanya,” he quipped.
Welcome to Mufakose, one of Harare’s oldest suburbs. There anything goes.
Some members of this community lead opulent lives while the majority however, wallows in poverty.
There is everything for everyone in Mufakose.
It’s just like a supermarket where you pick what you want provided you can pay.
Popularly known as “Mufombi” this teeming suburb between Marimba and Crowborough North residential areas is home to thousands of the capital’s population.
Vice abounds in this suburb west of Harare, perhaps justifying why a police station greets visitors there.
There is almost everything one may think of in Mufakose from street preachers to wonder workers, n’angas, apostolic sects, thieves, harlots and professionals.
Devoted Christians also make part of the population of this suburb which has countless pre-schools, primary and secondary schools to meet the educational needs of its residents and others from nearby suburbs.
Colleges offering a range of services also operate from this area.
Colonial structures, popularly known as “Misana yenzou” make the bulk of houses there though with the improving economic circumstances of residents, modern structures — including upstairs and brick-under-tile homes — now make part of the landscape.
Nyau dancers and apostolic sects are common on the outskirts of the suburbs where you find goats tied to trees as people battle to cast away evil spirits.
At crossroads in the nearby bush, broken clay pots, cash and red cloths are found.
Cars of various shapes and sizes ply the dusty streets of this suburb which under the colonial regime provided shelter for people who toiled day and night providing labour in the industrial sites.
Countless notables have risen from this suburb and are coming back to invest in their community.
Well-known thieves, politicians and pioneering African businessmen who lived there are revered to this day.
People, in their wisdom or lack of it, openly brag for living next door to an infamous armed robber.
“My father is a dead millionaire, my brother was an armed robber and I am a prostitute. Handina kupusa ndinoziva yese yaungada shasha,” I heard a woman from Mufakose bragging in a bottle store.
Upmarket beer halls and vending stalls are all over this area and life there is as good as in Borrowdale and other leafy suburbs.
But there is just something about this township that makes people want to talk about it. Women and men brag about being born and bred in Mufakose. It is not unusual to find people trying to win over arguments by stating boldly that: “Usada kundijairira. Ungandiudza chiiko zvako pauri ipapo. Ndakakurira kuMufakose inini.” Somehow people who were born and bred in Mufakose are believed to be naughty and not worthy of dealing with.
“Ah . . . my friend that guy you are dealing with was born and bred in Mufakose. He is not the kind of guy you may want to push over. Just watch your dealings with him,” you hear people saying.
Even on love matters, proposing love to a girl who grew up in Mufakose is as if you have committed a crime. No matter how honest that lover would be, you are warned relentlessly: “Don’t play around with women from Mufakose if you are not serious. They can deal with you.”
Mufakose is generally feared to the extent that if people learn that you stay there, they start keeping their distance. Licences and educational qualifications brought to any prospective employer by someone from Mufombi are treated with suspicion.
As I commit pen to paper gentle reader, it is not unusual to find people trooping to that old township in search of renowned n’angas and prophets there who can make stolen goods be recovered.
“Ari kutamba zvake munhu andibira. Tinomubata chete tikaenda kun’anga iri kuMufakose,” you hear people saying.
Gentle reader, weird as this sound, quite a lot happens in Mufakose.
People who sell stolen car radios, cell phones, motor vehicle accessories and other electrical gadgets are awash in Mufombi.
The same goes for motor mechanics and panel beaters. Things that cannot be found in town are sometimes sold openly on Mufakose.
An area called Magandanga which is just across a railway line from Budiriro is notorious for this.
There is a history of muggings there and visitors there are vetted by members of the community from young children to the elderly.
Prostitutes from Mufakose label themselves the best. They are also known from stealing from unsuspecting clients and fighting men.
Men from Mufakose fancy themselves the best soccer coaches, drivers, soccer players and boxers. Some thrive on selling counterfeit drugs.
Gentle reader, Mufakose and its lot are just an interesting chapter.
Inotambika mughetto.
Online Reporter