Macheke is a small

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

an town located in Murehwa District in the province of

Mashonaland East Mashonaland East, informally Mash East, is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 32,230 km2 and a population of approximately 1.73 million (2022). Marondera is the capital of the province. Demographics The province has a history ...

, located about 105 km south-east of

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

on the main A3

Mutare Mutare, formerly known as Umtali until 1982, is the capital and largest city in the province of Manicaland. It is the third most populated in Zimbabwe. Having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 ...

highway road. According to the 1982 population census, the town had a population of 1,888. It was named after the Macheke River and means "''you have divided''".

Geography

The city has old locations called Nyazema (high density suburbs), which were the first locations to be settled by the Macheke Founders. Now the town has grown into Springfield and Damview (low density suburbs), and Mutamba phase 1 & phase 2 (high density suburbs).

Demographics

Macheke residents are mostly from

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

and other parts of Zimbabwe. The town founders are from

and neighboring areas. English, Chishona, and

Chichewa Chewa ( ; also known as Nyanja ) is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognised minority in Zambia and Mozambique. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for languages, so the language is often called or Chinyanja. In Malawi, the name wa ...

are the major languages spoken in Macheke.

Economy

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

and mixed crops are farmed in the surrounding lands. There are a number of large scale tobacco and horticultural farmers in the area so Macheke serves as the main business centre providing goods and services for the farming community. Regarding business expansion, Macheke has burgeoned. Vending along the highway is one of the major economic activities done in this area. Hawkers mainly sell fresh farm produce that is sourced and procured from the surrounding farms. Main products sold include tomatoes, potatoes and various other vegetables. There are also a handful of horticultural exporters in the area. Crops grown for export mainly include soft fruit, mange tout peas and fine beans.

Personalities

Macheke is the hometown of Wicknell Chivayo, a well known and controversial Zimbabwean businessman accused of government contract abuse during the rule of

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

. Macheke is also the hometown of Vernon Chidongo, a prominent Zim-Hip Hop artist and publicly proclaimed ally of the Zanu PF lacoste faction.

References

http://www.machekeproject.org/ Populated places in Mashonaland East Province {{Zimbabwe-geo-stub