Zimbabwe: Harare City Council Blames Second Hand Clothes As Bedbugs Hit Mbare Again

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Used clothing
20 February 2026
New Zimbabwe (London)

As the Harare City Council is reluctant to address the squalid living conditions of Mbare flats, residents are enduring another bout of bed bugs.

Bed bugs have reemerged months after the City Council, in conjunction with the government, fumigated the flats in a bid to end the spread in the highly populated flats.

Harare City Council has blamed the reemergence of bed bugs to secondhand clothes and unhygienic living conditions in the flats.

"The City of Harare wishes to inform residents that a bed bug re-infestation has been detected in Mbare despite a successful control programme implemented last year.

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"Recent assessments have confirmed the presence of bed bugs in several apartments, including Nenyere, Matererini, Matapi, Shawasha, and Mbare flats, and in the surrounding areas.

"This re-emergence has been attributed to imported second-hand clothes (mabhero)," said Harare City Council in a statement.

Harare City Council has been reluctant to address the poor living conditions of residents in Matererini, Matapi and Shawasha flats.

The residents have been subjected to unhygienic conditions, which have exacerbated the bed bugs.

In 2024, the High Court ordered the Harare City Council to renovate the flats to meet decent living standards. However, the council is yet to abide by the order.

Last year, the city fathers appealed the judgment, a sign viewed by residents as having no willingness to upgrade the hostels and improve their living conditions.

While deflecting blame to the residents, the City Council said it will be conducting a bed bug disinfecting programme in the Mbare flats.

"The City Health Department is urgently responding through a targeted chemical application programme in all affected blocks and nearby areas from the 19th of February 2026. The operation aims to protect public health and prevent further spread.

"Failure to grant access to spraying teams increases the risk of continued infestation and re-infestation of neighbouring rooms and blocks. As such, appropriate action will be taken on non-compliant residents, without any further warning, to ensure successful control of bed bugs," read the statement further.

Read the original article on New Zimbabwe.

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