Murambatsvina victims desperate in Victoria Falls

By Violet Gonda
26 August 2005

Victims of operation Murambatsvina are living in a desperate situation in the resort town of Victoria Falls. The impact of the government's controversial clean up exercise has resulted in thousands of people sleeping in the bush while some are receiving shelter in churches.

The website Zimonline reported that the police began moving people to rural homes as the victims are said to be 'living like animals.' The majority of the evicted residents who were from the Baghdad and Kinshasa informal settlements were said to be living dangerously at the mercy of wild animals, such as lion and elephant, which roam on the periphery of the resort town.

Our resident contact Kudzai says the displacement of people is especially worrying in schools. He said he knows of classes at Mosi-o-tunya School which had 43 children before the clean up exercise. But now they only have 17 children. Kudzai, who himself is looking after 5 friends who were made homeless, says life in general for the people in the resort town has become unbearable. He said although fuel is now readily available, the majority of the people in Victoria Falls cannot buy the fuel as it is being sold in hard currency. He said given that people are paid in Zimbabwean dollars it's extremely difficult to source the hard currency.
Earlier this week a group of churches in Bulawayo went to Victoria Falls to respond to the humanitarian crisis there. More than 3000 people have been identified to be in need of urgent food aid and shelter. A quarter of these people are sleeping in churches while the rest are said to be sleeping in the bush.

Speaking on behalf of the churches in Bulawayo, Useni Sibanda said the religious groups were frantically trying to identify and help victims of operation Murambatsvina dumped in remote areas. He said a delegation of church leaders were in Victoria Falls with a humanitarian aid package in the form of blankets and food packs like mealie meal, sorghum, cooking oil and matemba.

Despite these reports, it's reported that Mugabe's government has refused a US$30m UN emergency fundraising drive to provide food and medicine for victims of this clean up exercise.