Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has moved the Harare International Carnival street party from the traditional Robert Mugabe road to a much wider and less populated Jason Moyo Avenue.
Addressing the media in Harare on Tuesday, Sugar Chagonda, the ZTA spokesperson said the change was as a result of concerns from the City of Harare regarding the high traffic volumes along Robert Mugabe road.
The Carnival street party which is the major highlight of the prestigious festival is now expected to start from Africa Unity Square along Jason Moyo Avenue down to Rotten Row Road.
“We are working with the Harare City Council who are our traditional partners in terms of this carnival, so it is them that brought this issue because they have their concerns in terms if traffic movement in the Central Business District so they are the ones who proposed Jason Moyo.
“We are still deliberating on the issue but we are almost adopting their recommendations,” said Chagonda.
However, 263Chat has established that the Harare International Carnival organizers and City of Harare fear that they will not be able to clear vendors who have taken over Robert Mugabe road.
City of Harare has dismally failed to deal with the rapidly ballooning number of vendors on Harare streets with several running battles between the municipal police and vendors turning violent.
Contacted for a comment, Harare City Council Spokesperson, Michael Chideme professed ignorance over the issue saying it was not a big issue as Jason Moyo had been used before for other parades.
“The change in the route is not a big a deal; we will use Jason Moyo Avenue because it is the most convenient road, we have used it before and it has worked, so there is no reason why we cant use the road,” said Chideme.
The 2017 Harare International Carnival will feature Werrason from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Babes Wodumo from South Africa and a host of local musicians including Jah Prayzah, Soul Jah Love, Andy Muridzo and many others.
The Carnival will run from the 1st to the 10th of September 2017.
