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Operation Murambatsvina - Countrywide evictions of urban poor - Index of articles
ZIMBABWE: AU envoy leaves without completing mission
IRIN News
July 08, 2005
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48041
JOHANNESBURG
- The African Union (AU) envoy who arrived in Zimbabwe last week
to evaluate the impact of the controversial demolition of informal
settlements has left the country without completing his mission,
according to official media.
AU spokesman
Adam Thiam confirmed that Bahame Tom Nyanduga, a member of the African
Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Special Rapporteur Responsible
for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons in
Africa, left Zimbabwe on Thursday. He was unable to comment on the
details of his mission or departure.
However, the
official Herald newspaper, quoting official sources, reported on
Friday that Nyanduga's mission was "unprocedural", as
diplomatic protocol had not been followed.
During the cleanup
campaign, launched in May, thousands of informal settlements have
been demolished and at least 375,000 people left homeless; the authorities
have claimed it was part of an urban renewal strategy that will
eventually build 10,000 homes at a cost of US $300 million.
According to
Zimbabwean television, the demolition drive has been endorsed by
Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr David Parirenyatwa, who
described the exercise as a "breath of fresh air".
The minister
was quoted as saying that prior to the cleanup operation he had
been unable to implement the Public Health Act "because of
the situation that there was in Harare and other cities in this
country: the overcrowding, the degree of sewage, the danger to clean
water supplies, the number of rodents that have sprouted up, the
number of street children ..."
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