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Through my eyes
Bernadette Mukonyora
June 17, 2005

My life as a resident Zimbabwean seized to exist when I took my first trip abroad in 2001, now I guess I am just a ‘nomad’ commuting to Zimbabwe at least once a year. I must say that over the past few years, I have been met with a lot of surprises - from the building of the new Great Zimbabwe Airport, the continual devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, the closure of the Daily News and the imprisonment of defiant journalists, the list is endless.

However, of all these surprises, the mother of all shockers has been the current state initiated "Operation Murambatsvina" which has left thousands of Zimbabweans homeless and displaced from their urban dwellings.

I had read in the Herald prior to my coming back to Zimbabwe of a ‘clean up operation’, which would rid Harare city of crime, illegal structures and shantytowns. I must confess that I was elated when I first read this as I had also noticed that the inner city was becoming filthy and buildings were on the verge of dilapidation. Little did I know that this operation would cause so much destruction and bring up questions of basic human rights violations.

I had the privilege of taking a trip around the inner city on my first week of arrival and I must say I was impressed with what I saw. The City looked and felt clean, the streets had been swept and there was an unusual calm. I was particularly impressed that the "street kids" had vanished as I had fallen victim to their insults and abuse countless times during my occasional visits back home.

Although this calm persisted, I still felt a deep dark presence – I realized that I was the only one who was happy about this progress. Here I was feeling happy about finally being able to walk around town when thousands of people had become homeless, as they had been forcefully evicted from their "homes".

They had woken up one day rushing to remove their valuables before the "Tsunami’s" hit. I am sure a typical eviction would be characterized by dismal looking faces sitting on their sofas on the dusty streets watching their homes being razed to the ground while others would be racing against time to salvage bits and pieces of furniture, electronic gadgets and utensils.

It obviously wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that these illegal structures were built out of desperation and poverty. Simple common sense will refer anyone to the current economic woes that Zimbabweans have endured – an overnight rise in commodity prices, devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar at alarming rates, high taxation – etcetra etcetra.

I realize that the city is the only source of income for these individuals who for lack of resources have been unable to escape the poverty by heading overseas to "Harare North" where the pound factor would better their situation. These individuals have seen it all, stuck by Zimbabwe through thick and thin and is this how they are repaid?

The nightmare of the aftermath is real and this is when reality hits. I have heard a lot of stories of "life after the evictions" with the goriest being the one that I heard at the hair salon where I get my hair done. One of the barbers at that hair salon is now living in the hair salon. The hair salon is now both his home and his workplace – a place to rest his head by night and a place to make money by day. I asked him how long he thought he would be living like this and he said he had no idea. The funny thing is that he actually considers himself as one of the lucky ones who actually has shelter.

Another astonishing revelation was made by one of my Colleagues, Taurai, who said that he had heard that people where sleeping outside in Mbare and the only shelter that they had were big plastics which they used to wrap around themselves for warmth against the bitter cold winter nights.

Others have even mentioned the exodus of many people to the rural areas where they could easily construct makeshift structures for shelter. The question of earning a living then arises as most of them will be unable to find employment in the rural areas and commuting would obviously not be an option for those in remote areas.

I have also noted that the government has just recently announced that only 4 470 applicants out of 20 447 have been allocated urban residential stands. What about the rest?

I sometimes wonder if I am not getting too old for these surprises, even though I am still in my twenties - but I guess Zimbabwe will always be my home and I should brace myself for the "long walk to normalcy" – I just hope it happens at some point in my lifetime.

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