FORGET armed soldiers or any fancy cameras that characterise the State House — the residence of the First Family — the high density suburb of Glen View has its own “State House”.
Yes, its own State House, in the form of a beautiful ordinary house belonging to a moderate Glen View Banda family.
When Gideon Banda, 49, built the house a few years back, he did not know that it would draw so much attention, to an extent of acquiring the “State House” status.
Situated by the corner, Banda’s house is a sensation and the starting point for any new comers in the suburb.
From the “State House”, new comers are able to locate their areas of destination.
Unlike the real State House, which houses the first family, where passers-by cringe out of fear of armed men, the Glen View house has become a bus stop of note, a drop-off point for many.
The real State House is located along Borrowdale Road, occupying a spacious piece of land.
The road passing through the two adjacent premises is closed every night while heavily-armed soldiers keep guard day and night.
But, Banda’s house is just an ordinary structure along a busy road.
“When I built this house, I heard some people calling it the State House while some call it the dreamland of Glen View.
“I don’t know why they call it the State House, but l think it is because of the size of the house,” the soft-spoken Banda said.
Just like a diamond in the rough, the house looks outstanding, as it occupies a spacious piece of land.
“With a green gate and bricks well laid on the driveway, the green lawn leading to the house entrance is nothing short of a masterpiece.
The driveway also leads to a well-placed car shed on the front of the house. During the night, the whole yard will be lit.
Because of its beauty, the place is now a destination for many who host their graduation parties, weddings or any other ceremonies filled with glitz and glamour
this is a well-known place and I don’t normally give people directions to my house because they will always find it as a result of its name and popularity,” Banda said.
The self-employed landlord said he has two houses in Glen View, but the other one is not as popular as the “State House”.
He said he built the State House through proceeds funds realised from informal employment.
“I breed chickens and sell cooking gas,” he said.
Banda’s house was one of the first houses to be built in Glen View 7 — 10 years ago, which explains why it caught the sight of many, but the origins of its name still remains a mystery.
But for many in high density suburbs, they know that people simply come up with names based on circumstances surrounding the place, which may, however, be different in Banda’s case.
Some places in Mufakose suburb are called paMusawu, most probably because in the early days there was a tree by that name at the same place.
In Kuwadzana Extension, there is a place called maCall Box (public telephone booths). The place was named after public telephone booths that were located at the area. However, it’s been several years since the telephone booths were removed, but the name has stuck to this day.
There are several others known as Baghdad in many of Zimbabwe’s small towns. Baghdad is the capital of the Republic of Iraq, but was famed for its dangerous and destructive wars that claimed the lives of many. In Zimbabwe, these places are named Baghdad because of the level of social ills associated with those areas, notably prostitution and drug abuse.—Tendai Kamhungira and Freedom Mashava
Source-Weekend Post