Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Harare (Fides Service)- “Hundreds of thousands of people have no shelter. Children are deprived of education. The lives and security of the homeless are at risk”. This was the opening statement of a report issued by the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Jesuit community in Zimbabwe with regard to the consequences of the ‘restor order’ “Murambatsvina” operation (see Fides 21 June 2005) started by the police in slums in and around the country’s main cities in May.
Copies of the report presented on 4 July were given to Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka secretary general of the United Nations’ special envoy to Zimbabwe and ambassador Bahame Tom Nyanduga of the African Union human rights commission.
“People have a right to work but they are denied it. It is degrading and dehumanising to be forced to be inactive” the document said underscoring that the country’s economy was seriously damaged by the police operation which destroyed the informal economy of street vendors. “A good part of urban homes was destroyed in a country which has a serious housing shortage. The formal economy has been destroyed by corruption, uncontrolled government expenses and unsussessful land reforms. Now also the informal economy has been eliminated” the report said.
The “Murambatsvina” or weaker people are the most affected: “Pregant mothers with young children, people with AIDS, old people, all forced to sleep in the open with Winter rigid temperatures”.
This has destroyed a “well built social tissue. Families have been separated” the document said. The homeless are making their way to rural areas “but not many have family in rural areas” the report said. “Many are foreign citizens or children of foriegners (from Malawi, Mozambique, etc..). People born in towns lose contact with the rural villages of their parents”. The operation will worsen the situation in rural areas where people are already starving.
Why did political leaders decide on this operation?” the report asks. “The general opinion is that the party in power is taking revenge on urban voters who voted for the oppostion in recent years”.
The ultimate cause of the operation is “the Constitution which gives the President unlimited and uncontrolled power . There is no separation of power because the executive rules the magistrates and the courts are subject to the government so people who suffer an injustice cannot appeal to a truly indepdendent court. Zimbabwe needs a new form of government and a new constitution if it is to avoid similar disasters in the future ” the report concluded. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 6/7/2005 righe 46 parole 472)
