Kwekwe: Difference between revisions
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|official_name = Kwekwe, Zimbabwe |
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|established_title = Established |
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|established_date = late [[19th Century]] |
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Revision as of 22:48, 17 January 2008
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2007) |
Kwekwe, Zimbabwe
Kwekwe | |
|---|---|
City | |
| Country | Zimbabwe |
| Province | Midlands |
| District | Kwekwe |
| Established | late 19th Century |
| Population (2002) | |
| • Total | 88,000 |
| estimated | |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (CEST) |
- This article is about the city. For the district, see Kwekwe District.
Kwekwe or Kwe Kwe (formerly Que Que) is a city in Zimbabwe. It is located in the centre of the country (Midlands province) - roughly equidistant from Harare to the northeast and Bulawayo to the southwest. Its population stood at 47,607 in 1982, 75,425 in 1992 and the preliminary result of the 2002 census suggests a current population of 88,000.
Kwekwe was founded in the late 19th century as a gold mining town, and hosts Zimbabwe's National Mining Museum. The town remains an industrial centre of the country. Kwekwe is named after the Kwekwe River, which was originally named Que Que (pronounced the same) after the croaking of the frogs.
The climate is warm and wet from mid November to mid March, with cool, dry weather from May to mid August and warm dry weather from August to mid-November.
The Kwekwe Sports Club hosts games by Zimbabwe's Midlands provincial cricket side, and hosted a One Day International against Kenya in 2002, along with a number of matches between Zimbabwe A and touring teams. Kwekwe hosts two football (soccer) clubs, the Lancashire Steel (named after a local steel company) and Kwekwe Cables. The Kwekwe Queens Club is also a reputable sporting establishment, with a sizable membership and drinking crowd.
Schools in Kwekwe include Kwekwe Junior School, Kwekwe High School, Ficthlea primary school, and Goldridge School.
Suburbs
Kwekwe like any town has its suburbs divided into low cost housing ,residential housing and also industrial and railway housing. Kwekwe has only one set of traffic lights which are slightly outside the city centre - on a road leading to the high density suburb of Mbizo.
Amaveni and Mbizo are the two low cost housing suburbs in Kwekwe area. These two ghetto like housing areas were primarily built close to the mines so that the workers were located close to work making the area boom in terms of business, especially for local bars known as beer halls. The mine which was white sands was actually a beautiful site and was nicknamed "Motoro".
Then there are the mid-class homes in the Fitchlea area. This area is made up of big 3-4 bedroom homes and is still home to wealthy families despite the collapse of the economy.
Masasa Park and New Town are amongst the wealthier suburbs. The very wealthy upper-class families reside mugomo (on the mountain) in the suburb of Chicago. This is subdivided into mini-suburbs such as Hazeldene. The homes in this area are significantly larger than most, and are usually staffed with 2-4 domestic workers and, at times, security guards.
The town lies on the Bulawayo - Harare Line of the railway. It is home to two Mosques, a meetinghouse for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Seventh-day Adventist Churches, Salvation Army and Catholic churches.
Kwekwe has paved roads leading to Gweru, Kadoma, Mvuma and Gokwe centre hence it is considered a well connected city. Besides being right in the middle of the country, Kwekwe is also strategically located within the midlands metropolitan area. Kwekwe, together with Gweru, Kadoma and Redcliff form the 2nd largest Zimbabwean (combined)urban settlement - only 2nd to Harare and its environs.