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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Operation Murambatsvina - Countrywide evictions of urban poor - Index of articles
Murambatsvina
still on
Reagan Mashavave,
The Independent (Zimbabwe)
June 16, 2006
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/viewinfo.cfm?linkid=11&id=3963
MORE than 90
families have been left in the open after their homes and property
were demolished by Harare municipal police early yesterday morning
in a fresh wave of demolitions.
Loice Toringei, a mother of two, said municipal police swooped on
Wednesday giving notices to residents of Glen Norah C home industrial
area to vacate by 10 am yesterday.
"Municipal police came on Wednesday with notices that we must
vacate this area by 10 am this morning. They came telling us to
go back where we came from and never to return again," she
said.
"The police swooped on the settlement early this morning destroying
our homes and property and promised to come after three hours threatening
to beat anyone they would find around," Toringei said.
Residents of the area were evicted last year after government embarked
on the much criticised Operation
Murambatsvina or Restore Order which left almost a million people
homeless and 2,4 million people without means of earning a living
following the destruction of informal vending sites and home industries.
Another resident of the area who refused to reveal his name said:
"Government promised to build us homes when they destroyed
our homes last year but nothing has been done. I do not know if
government officials have a heart. This is the work of the devil.
This is the second time our homes have been destroyed."
United Nations special envoy Anna Tibaijuka produced a damning report
on the demolitions in June last year after the government embarked
on Operation Murambatsvina.
Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR) has condemned the demolitions saying
they are a clear violation of human rights.
Meanwhile, the Evangelical
Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) has come in to help families that
have been affected by the early morning demolitions.
EFZ has dispatched a team to distribute blankets, soap, plates,
cups and plastic containers for the affected people
Innocent Chingwaru, Programmes officer of EFZ, confirmed that his
organisation had dispatched goods to the families that were affected
yesterday morning saying the organisation always helped vulnerable
groups in society and would continue to do so.
Crisis Coalition
in Zimbabwe says it has been deeply disturbed by the government’s
failure to address the suffering of people and considers the demolition
to be a war on the poor.
The civic group’s spokesperson Precious Matambanadzo said: "The
demolitions (yesterday) morning are a complete violation of human
rights to shelter, sanitation and protection against weather."
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