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Letter of solidarity on evictions in Zimbabwe
Harare-Munich Partnership (HaMuPa)
June 07, 2005

It is with deep dismay that we have been following the police crackdown on informal traders and settlements in Zimbabwe, and in Harare in particular. The blitz reportedly left more than 20.000 people arrested and about 200.000 homeless, including orphaned children and terminally ill people.

It is totally beyond our comprehension that any government should wage a war against the poor instead of helping them to fight poverty, as the Zimbabwe National Pastors’ Conference has aptly pointed out. In the case of Zimbabwe, this is particularly distressing as all the suffering that accompanied the so-called Third Chimurenga had been justified as being in the interest of redistribution as a matter of social and historical justice.

We fail to see even a hint of justice in the current "Operation Murambatsvina". In fact, calling it thus reveals the authorities’ contempt of the poor who had been trying to eke out a living in what is left of Zimbabwe’s economy. This is certainly not the fault of the poor!

We Germans know from our own history that it can be very difficult to resist an oppressive regime that thrives by systematically spreading fear and creating a culture of impunity.

Regarding our relationship with Harare as a civic arm of the Zimbabwean capital’s official twinning with Munich, we have felt increasingly helpless as we have watched the malaise unfolding in our sister city. We are aware that we cannot do much about it. We also know that Zimbabweans seeking democracy and prosperity appear to have been abandoned by regional governments in Southern Africa.

However, many small steps are needed to travel a long road. We are pleased to see that Zimbabweans are in the process right now of collecting and disseminating ideas on how to assist each other as well as on how to stand by democratic non-violent principles. If each and everyone of us can find just one thing, even the smallest thing, to do in support of this suffering nation and just do it: all those tiny examples of a little courage might actually connect and combine. Eventually, the road to a better future might be there for all to see and walk upon.

We also want to express our sympathy with the Combined Harare Residents Association’s (CHRA) current efforts to both ease the suffering of the displaced in Harare and encourage people to stand up for their basic rights.

Robert Hochreiter
Harare - Munich - Partnership of the North South Forum Munich e.V.
c/o EineWeltHaus München Schwanthaler Str.
80 Rgb D-80336 Munich

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