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Zim: UN envoy 'was misquoted'
News24 (SA) ^ | 2005-07-02

Posted on 07/03/2005 3:45:47 AM PDT by Clive

Harare - A United Nations envoy met with some of the tens of thousands of Zimbabweans left homeless in a so-called urban renewal drive that has drawn international condemnation.

Anna Tibaijuka, who arrived on Sunday to assess the humanitarian impact of the government's Operation Murambatsvina, or Drive Out Trash, toured the Caledonia Transit Camp on Friday where about 4,000 people are living in "difficult conditions" outside Harare, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at United Nations headquarters in New York.

She also stopped off at demolition sites and places where the government is proposing to relocate people along the road to the eastern city of Mutare, he said.

Police have torched and bulldozed tens of thousands of homes in the campaign to "clean up" shantytowns, markets and other structures they deem illegal.

Reported out of context

Humanitarian workers estimate as many as 1.5 million people may have been left homeless in the operation that began May 19 - many of them forced to destroy their own houses at gunpoint. Several people have also been killed by falling rubble or in accidents involving vehicles used in the operation.

Tibaijuka told CNN on Friday that she was here to talk with those affected and to "assess how we can work together with local authorities, with government to assist them."

The state-run Herald newspaper quoted Tibaijuka on Friday as praising President Robert Mugabe's government for supplying building plots to some of the homeless.

"Allocation of stands for housing is a reflection of the seriousness of government," she was quoted as saying at a meeting with government ministers on Thursday.

But the United Nations said its envoy's comments were reported out of context.

"Her listening to the statements made by the ministers should in no way be seen as her endorsing the government's policy," Dujarric said. "UN Habitat, the agency that she heads ..., has clearly stated that forced eviction is one of the main barriers to the significant improvement of slum dwellers."

Stepped up efforts by state media to paint Murambatsvina in a better light coincided with the announcement of Tibaijuka's visit.

Shortly before she arrived, Mugabe launched a reconstruction campaign to accommodate "deserving" people who lost their homes and livelihoods. He promised to build two million homes by 2010, a commitment economists doubt he can afford to keep at a time of economic free-fall.

The Herald did not report if Tibaijuka commented on the evictions, but it quoted her as saying the reconstruction programme "is good. The vision is clear."

The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change says the campaign is aimed at breaking up its strongholds among the urban poor and forcing its supporters into rural areas, where Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party dominates.

The government insists it helped reduce crime and restore order to overcrowded cities.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: misquotes; unhabitat; zimbabwe
The following is the prior News24 report on the story that had appeared in the Herald:

UN envoy 'praised Zim'
01/07/2005 11:08 - (SA)

Harare - A special United Nations envoy sent to investigate Zimbabwe's controversial campaign of shack demolitions praised President Robert Mugabe's government for its "vision", the state-run Herald newspaper claimed on Friday.

The paper said Anna Tibaijuka, the head of UN-Habitat, told cabinet ministers on Thursday that the Zimbabwe government had shown its "seriousness" in allocating housing stands to homeless people.

"The allocation of stands for housing is a reflection of the seriousness of government. Operation Garikai (Settle and Prosper) is good. The vision is clear," Tibaijuka was quoted as saying.

Police launched a wave of shack demolitions, dubbed Operation Restore Order, in May, in what the authorities said was a bid to restore order and cleanliness to Zimbabwe's cities and towns. At least 300,000 people were made homeless.

The government now says that Operation Restore Order has been replaced by Operation Settle and Prosper, which will see new houses constructed on a massive scale.

Tibaijuka was taken to see four model houses that have been constructed at a site just outside Harare, in a constituency won by Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) in parliamentary elections in March.

"I believe this is the beginning of the beginning. UN-Habitat is looking forward to working with you," the Herald, which closely reflects the government line, quoted Tibaijuka as saying.

Tibaijuka is due to compile a report on her assessment of the demolitions campaign, which will be presented to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

The campaign has provoked local and international outrage. Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says it does not believe the government has the resources to carry out the construction of the promised houses.

Zimbabwe is currently in the grips of a severe economic crisis, with inflation running at more than 144%. Fuel, foreign currency and cement are in short supply. - Sapa-dpa

1 posted on 07/03/2005 3:45:48 AM PDT by Clive
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To: blam; Cincinatus' Wife; sarcasm; happygrl; Byron_the_Aussie; robnoel; GeronL; ZOOKER; Bonaparte; ...

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2 posted on 07/03/2005 3:46:16 AM PDT by Clive
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To: Clive

So, she was with them before she was against them?


3 posted on 07/03/2005 3:58:45 AM PDT by RandallFlagg (Roll your own cigarettes! You'll save $$$ and smoke less!(Magnetic bumper stickers-click my name)
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To: Clive
Another U.N. lackey licks another dictator's butt.

No news, that.

4 posted on 07/03/2005 4:01:12 AM PDT by snarks_when_bored
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To: Clive
Mugabe launched a reconstruction campaign to accommodate "deserving" people who lost their homes and livelihoods.

"deserving" = Party Member.

Can you imagine the the uproar if the Zim leadership were white?

5 posted on 07/03/2005 7:40:36 AM PDT by Mike Darancette (Mesocons for Rice '08)
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To: Clive
The state-run Herald newspaper quoted Tibaijuka on Friday as praising President Robert Mugabe's government for supplying building plots to some of the homeless.

This is so Through the Looking Glass.

many of them forced to destroy their own houses at gunpoint. Several people have also been killed by falling rubble or in accidents involving vehicles used in the operation.

6 posted on 07/03/2005 7:49:53 AM PDT by Madame Dufarge
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To: Clive


Hell, if Mugabe wants to cite international law, like our own US Supreme Court does...

He could just cite a certain recent US Supreme Court decision!


7 posted on 07/03/2005 8:55:52 AM PDT by adam_az (It's the border, stupid!)
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