Mugabe says no to UN offer of tents for homeless demolition victims

By Tererai Karimakwenda
07 December 2005

On Tuesday, Robert Mugabe turned down an offer by the United Nations to supply tents for the thousands made homeless by his ‘cleanup’ operation Murambatsvina. Mugabe is reported to have told the UN humanitarian envoy Jan Egeland that Zimbabweans are not "tents people". His spokesperson George Charamba quoted Mugabe as saying "We believe in houses". The statement reeks of irony since all Zimbabweans, particularly the homeless victims, know that it is Mugabe’s government that destroyed their permanent houses. The demolitions earlier this year were largely viewed as punishment for supporting the opposition, and Mugabe’s continued refusal to accept help for the victims lends even more credibility to these allegations.

Mugabe is making choices for the people he victimised, choices that change nothing about their situation. He has also been criticised for attempting to dictate what the United Nations should do, without ever admitting his mistakes or taking responsibility for his actions. Tiseke Kasambala of Human Rights Watch, who visited Zimbabwe and witnessed the scale of the destruction, told us the U.N. has done the best it can under the circumstances. It has faced many obstacles and challenges with Mugabe holding the organisation to ransom by insisting on his own parameters. But Tiseke believes these parameters are not based on the needs of the people he victimised.

Tiseke also said the UN approach has not yielded any tangible results so far. Human Rights Watch is calling on the U.N. to take a more assertive role, and insist on providing the temporary shelter needed immediately by the displaced families. Tiseke said the people sleeping in the open are catching tuberculosis and children are dying of pneumonia. She added that this situation is also just as bad for those being kept at Hoply farm and at Hatcliffe by the government.

Mugabe claims his government’s housing programme Operation Garikai is being hampered by a lack of cash, fuel and building materials. But those conditions existed before he destroyed the existing permanent structures. One report says Egeland pointed out that urban renewal campaigns were usually done only "when you have better housing available".

As for food for the victims, Mugabe has agreed to allow the UN to increase their efforts, and the organisation is planning to feed 3 million more Zimbabweans this year. The money has come from countries Mugabe calls his enemies, and yet he accepts it regardless, at the same time spewing evil words against them at every public forum.