They were not allowed to collect their few possessions and within minutes 100 shacks were torched by the cops and the people were either taken to the police cells or told to Go home to their rural areas and build houses there. It was that instruction to these former victims of Operation Murambatsvina which served to remind Zimbabweans that history was repeating itself.
Five years ago, on May 19th, 2005, the then Chairperson of the Harare City Council announced the launching of an Operation designed to clean up the urban areas of the city on the grounds that they had been overrun by criminals and illegal squatters. Her announcement marked the beginning of a nation-wide exercise designated Operation Murambatsvina Clean out the filth – which would be carried out in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Republic Police. On that day, May 19th, the state-controlled Herald in its editorial urged All urbanites to go back to their rural homes and earn an honest living from the soil our government has repossessed under the land reform programme.
Three weeks later, on June 10th, when the Operation was in full swing and thousands of people had already been made homeless and jobless, Robert Mugabe opened parliament with all the pomp and ceremony reminiscent of the former colonial regime. In his speech Mugabe referred to Murambatsvina as, A vigorous clean-up campaign to restore order in urban areas where small businesses operated outside the regulatory framework and in undesignated and crime-ridden areas that could not be countenanced much longer. Interestingly enough, the MDC boycotted the 2005 Opening of Parliament on the grounds that Robert Mugabe was not the legitimate president of Zimbabwe. Now that same MDC is part of the government but as Senator Mishek Marave bravely commented this week, it makes no difference to the ZRP. Senator Marave was one of a group of MDC MPs in Masvingo arrested on police allegations of public violence. The Senators words deserve quoting: Since we joined the Inclusive Government, not a single day has gone by without the police harassing, intimidating and persecuting MDC officials and supportersThe same police force treat us with contempt, disrespect and scorn while showing favouritism and granting special privileges to Zanu PF and its supporters.., they (Zanu PF) have a free pass to do as they please and are never held accountablethey are simply untouchable. The truth of the Senators words was borne out this week in Robert Mugabes refusal to confer Hero status on the late Gibson Sibanda, one of the founders of the opposition party and a gallant trade unionist who died on Tuesday. While Mugabes sister Sabina was declared a national hero within twenty-four hours of her death, Gibson Sibanda was denied that honour. The fact is that only Zanu PF supporters will be granted that accolade. However bloody their history, only those who have remained loyal to Robert Mugabe deserve the glory of being laid to rest in Heroes Acre alongside men like Doctor Death, Chengerai Hunzvi, one of whose torture chambers was just metres away from my house in Murehwa, or the founder of the notorious Green Bombers, Border Gezi, and so many others whose blind allegiance to the former ruling party is their only qualification to that dubious honour. The fact that Zimbabwe has still not signed up the UN Convention Against Torture is a very clear signal that for Mugabe and his followers, human rights are simply not an issue. Their over-riding concern is getting rid of Sanctions which they claim are causing untold suffering for the masses of Zimbabwean people. In an extraordinarily bad-tempered exchange between the Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Mumbengegwi and the German Ambassador this week, the latter reminded Mumbengegwi that the very countries being lambasted by Zanu PF for EU sanctions were themselves donors of massive aid to the impoverished country. With the arrogance that characterises Zanu PF the German Ambassador was told in no uncertain terms that Zimbabwe as a sovereign nation – didnt need foreign aid. We are the victims of sanctions Mumbengegwi ranted. Tell that to the 100 families burnt out of their shelters by the police in Harare or the 40 families evicted this week from the Chiadzwa diamond fields and dumped in empty tobacco barns on once thriving commercial farms or the thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans struggling to survive in the country that Zanu PF has reduced to chaos. But still Zanu PF maintains it will not implement the GPA until sanctions are lifted.
In Zimbabwe everything changes but nothing changes.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH aka Pauline Henson.
Post published in: Opinions