NEWS & LETTERS, August - September 2009
World in View
Zimbabwe evictions
by Gerry Emmett
Thousands of people in Harare, Zimbabwe, are facing mass evictions from their homes and market stalls, according to a report from Amnesty International. Many of the same people were already once evicted this way in President Mugabe's infamous "urban cleansing" campaign of 2005, which left over 700,000 without homes or means to live.
This comes at the same time as the first of two scheduled All-Stakeholders Conferences was held in Harare. These are part of the proposed process of drafting a new Constitution following power sharing agreements between Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change whose candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, probably defeated Mugabe in the last presidential election.
The final draft Constitution is to be done by parliamentary committee. The eviction threat is a demonstration of how little has changed in some ways. The process of drafting the new Constitution is taking place over the heads of the people. This is why a number of important organizations like the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions and the National Union of Students are not taking part in them.
Other organizations formed the Democratic United Front for a People-Driven Constitution, including women's groups and HIV/AIDS groups as well as 16 trade unions. Their plan is to participate critically in the process and, afterward, organize to pressure the government to respect the rights to affordable food, education, healthcare and economic justice.
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