Operation Murambatsvina

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has argued that the government's main reason for Murambatsvina is to punish the urban poor for voting for the opposition during the March parliamentary elections. The cities are traditionally MDC strongholds, and, in fact, the Harare Commission that initiated the campaign was set up to override the governing powers of the elected MDC City Council. However, the retribution as a rationale is somewhat undermined by the fact that some Zanu-PF supporters, including liberation war-veterans, have also been caught up in the squatter camp clearances. The hypothesis that operation murambatsvina was a form of political retribution is further strengthened to almost being factual by the recurrence of a similar operation just after the disputed 2018 election. After a demonstration staged by the urban population against the Zimbabwe Government, an order was given to the municipalities to mirror the exact 'tsunami' operation that saw many demolitions taking place in January 2019, leaving a lot of people destitute.

Commentators such as Tererai Karimakwenda have noted the similarity between the name of this operation and the Gukurahundi campaign conducted as part of Mugabe's struggle against the Matabele tribe in the early 1980s. The Gukurahundi campaign ultimately resulted in the demise of Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) when it merged with Robert Mugabe's party in 1987. There has been speculation that the government is aiming to create a situation where the MDC has no choice but to merge with the ruling party.[12]

Karimakwenda also argued that by forcing urban voters out into the rural areas the cities will be de-populated of MDC supporters, thus enabling the government to re-populate the shanty town areas with ZANU-PF supporters. Further, MDC supporters will be forced to return to live in areas traditionally viewed as ZANU-PF strongholds.[12]

Science and Technology Deputy Minister Patrick Zhuwawo used state media to say that the government had demarcated nearly 10,000 residential stands at Whitecliff Farm for allocation to what he called "deserving people".[13] The Independent has interpreted this to mean "ZANU-PF supporters" and supports the view by identifying the presence of "ZANU-PF sharks" at the centre where people were meant to sign up for new stands.[14] A different source reported that, in Bulawayo, a ZANU-PF representative was tasked with compiling a list of future stand beneficiaries and that the resulting list was dominated by the names of known ZANU-PF supporters. One opposition supporter, whose name was not on the list, alleges that he was bluntly told that he supported the wrong party.[15]

There were many reports in the immediate aftermath of the 2005 parliamentary elections, widely viewed by the west as neither free nor fair, of potential mass uprisings against the government. In fact, Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, a respected human rights activist and outspoken critic of the government, publicly called for a peaceful uprising before the elections took place, claiming that the elections had already been fixed.[16]

It has been argued that, by dispersing MDC supporters to remote rural locations, the ZANU-PF government would find it easier to control an angry population in the event of possible riots or mass protests. David Coltart, the MDC's legal affairs spokesperson, described the operation as a sinister pre-emptive strike designed to remove the maximum possible number of people from urban areas to rural areas where they are easier to control".[17]

Other sources suggest[18] that former Ethiopian leader Mengistu Haile Mariam, who fled to Harare in 1991 as the Derg fell from power, may have given Robert Mugabe the idea, warning the Zimbabwean leader that the swelling slum and backyard population in Zimbabwe was creating a fertile ground for a mass uprising.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has advanced another reason for pre-emptively dispersing citizens living in opposition party strongholds. They point to the fact that the government faces an unprecedented economic crisis characterised by fuel and food shortages, rampant hyperinflation, and virtually no foreign currency. To resolve the crisis, they argue that the ZANU-PF government will be forced, against its will, to re-engage with the international community:

This means a reversal of its whole style of governing, adherence to the rule of law, an end to political violence and repression, opening of the press and media space, and a cessation of all interference with citizens basic freedoms.

The suggestion therefore is that if totalitarian controls were relaxed – to satisfy international principles and standards – the government would suddenly be exposed to protest and civic pressure. In other words, Operation Murambatsvina may be less to do with fear of protests immediately following the elections (which could be controlled using current methods which rely on a politicised police and army), and more to do with controlling the population after heavy-handed measures were dispensed with:

It is predicated on the observation that the greatest risk to repressive governments comes when they seek to liberalise.[19]

Zimbabwean 2005 election experiences give some credence to this view. Anticipating electoral observers coming to the country, the government eased up on a few of its repressive tactics in the months immediately preceding the parliamentary elections. The immediate effect was that MDC supporters felt confident and suddenly openly showed their support for their party in a way they hadn't been able to before.[20]

In the early 2000s, Zimbabwe fought to keep control of the foreign currency market by adopting a range of measures, usually spearheaded by Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono.[21] Sokwanele, a Zimbabwean civic action support group, describes Gideon Gono as having played a major role in Operation Murambatsvina.[22] In fact, Gideon Gono's appointment to Governor coincided with the beginning of a crackdown on illegal foreign currency dealings prompting one popular source of independent news to report that "one of his key areas of focus is the illegal foreign currency market".[23]

Sokwanele, in a different article, explains that the foreign currency market in Zimbabwe is broadly characterised by the formal market, the parallel market and the black market.[24] They describe the black market as follows:

Black market transactions happen on the streets, in the flea markets, and in back-rooms; sometimes for small sums of money like 20 US dollars; and the deals often take place between individuals.

Commentators believe the government is specifically targeting the small-scale black market traders through Operation Murambatsvina. The Age, an Australian newspaper, reported on how informal vendors at one market, dubbed "The World Bank", maintains a façade of trading goods when their real business is dealing in hard cash, albeit very small amounts at a time.[25] (In fact, Bulawayo's "The World Bank" was one of the markets targeted when Gono first become Governor of the Reserve Bank in [2003].[23])

Few analysts believe that the small amounts seized from vendors in one operation could begin to meet the country's massive foreign currency shortfall. This has led to some describing the government's action as indicative of their extreme desperation.

ZANU-PF's drive towards resolving its economic crisis has included strengthening its historical ties with China.[26] The state-controlled newspaper The Herald reported on Robert Mugabe's support for Operation Murambastvina, and on his view that the economy was beginning to receive serious and significant investments from the Far East:

We should not look back, for, looking back, means back to our political enemies and detractors. Industry must recognise this new direction (Look East policy).

This has led some to speculate that the destruction of the shanty towns are partly in support of Chinese business interests in Zimbabwe. A report co-authored by Archbishop Ncube stated that:

Speculation over the motives behind Operation Murambatsvina has pointed to the removal of local competition threatening newly arrived Chinese businessmen whose stores sell cheap and often poor quality goods. It is estimated that, as a result of the government's aggressive "Look East" policy, up to 10,000 Chinese citizens have moved into the country, and some have moved onto farms taken from highly skilled commercial farmers, notably to grow tobacco for China's 300 million smokers.[27][28]

As well as practical support of Chinese business interests, many have suggested that Operation Murambatsvina also demonstrates an adherence to a 'Look East' ideology and is evidence that Zanu-PF has embraced an Asian model of government where individual rights are often subverted for the good of the masses, or the regime.[29] Robert Mugabe's approach to governance has prompted regular comparisons between him and Pol Pot.[17][30][31]

Operation Murambatsvina has been widely condemned by Zimbabwean non-governmental organisations,[3] churches,[32] legal organisations,[33] and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change[34] as well as many other groups in Zimbabwe.

The operation also made topics for those in the literature world with Valerie Tagwira with her book The Uncertainty of Hope, which vivified mostly the effects of Operation Murambatsvina on the ordinary female citizens of Zimbabwe and other difficulties faced by that time.[35][36] The other known literature figure who hand penned the happenings of the era is a young poet and script writer, Poseidon Tsautsau who wrote his poem:The Uncaring father, who should care.[37] In his poem it seems like Tsautsau is blasting Mugabe the Zimbabwean father for not caring for his children, by "cleaning the mess through adding trash" as he writes in his piece.[38]

The international community has also condemned the operation with nations and international organisations strongly attacking the Zimbabwean government's policy.

Kate Hoey MP called on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to encourage South Africa to use its regional influence to put pressure on Zimbabwean authorities to cease the crackdown.

The New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Phil Goff expressed his condemnation of the operation by suggesting in a radio interview a boycott of the planned tour by the Zimbabwean cricket team of New Zealand in 2005–06.

Condoleezza Rice, then United States Secretary of State, called upon African leaders to speak out against the Operation and to increase pressure on the Zimbabwean authorities to end the evictions. The African Union has rejected these calls stating it has 'more serious concerns'.[39] For example, then South African President Thabo Mbeki questioned why Western leaders were so concerned about Zimbabwe while not paying the same amount of attention to far more dire African emergencies, such as civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kofi Annan, then UN Secretary-General, dispatched special envoy Anna Tibaijuka to Zimbabwe to study the effects of the campaign and report back her findings. The report[6] is highly critical of the government, prompting one news source to say that the report used "language unusually harsh for the United Nations".[1] Excerpts of the report describe the operation as disastrous and inhumane, representing a clear violation of international law. The executive summary stated:

Operation Restore Order, while purporting to target illegal dwellings and structures and to clamp down on alleged illicit activities, was carried out in an indiscriminate and unjustified manner, with indifference to human suffering, and, in repeated cases, with disregard to several provisions of national and international legal frameworks.

On 23 May 2007 the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions and another group, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, sought independent legal opinion. This concluded that the evictions in Zimbabwe were a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population, as part of state policy.[40]