Human rights lawyer Doug Coltart has criticised the prominence of China’s branding on Zimbabwe’s new Parliament building.
Writing on X, Coltart said the new Parliament is a nice building, but the “extremely in-your-face” prominence of “CHINA AID” is distasteful.
He argued that the branding is “disrespectful to our sovereignty as a nation” because it makes the building feel less like “the house of the Zimbabwean People”.
Coltart pointed out that the word “CHINA” is more prominent than “ZIMBABWE” at the front of Parliament, and three permanent plaques honour China Aid.
He said he is not opposed to thanking China for its support in building Parliament. However, he believes Zimbabwe should maintain self-respect and national dignity by putting Zimbabwe’s identity first in its own legislature.
The New Parliament Building in Mount Hampden was funded entirely by the Chinese government. It was given to Zimbabwe as a gift, not a loan.
The project is valued at about US$140 million. Some estimates put the cost at up to US$200 million when the wider complex and surrounding infrastructure are included.
It was financed through China Aid, the Chinese government’s foreign aid agency. Because it was a grant, Zimbabwe does not have to repay the construction costs.
The building was constructed by the Shanghai Construction Group, a Chinese state-owned company. The deal was officially commissioned in 2018, and the building was handed over to Zimbabwe in late 2023.
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