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Guess who will be asked to pay for Comrade Mugabe's 'urban renewal'?


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By John Metzler
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM

Friday, July 1, 2005

UNITED NATIONS — Reviving African development efforts remains a major focus for the upcoming G-8 industrial nations summit slated for Gleneagles, Scotland. And as the world’s rich countries are being pressured and cajoled to do more to help solve Africa’s famines, wars, and epidemics — as they should — ponder the heinous example of one African regime.

In what must rate as one of the most hideously Orwellian examples of urban renewal, Zimbabwe President Comrade Robert Mugabe’s police have literally bulldozed, burned and flattened entire districts of his capital city, Harare. His plan — to rid the city of illegal traders, (tax avoiding merchants), criminals (many, but mostly people who don’t agree with him), and “undesirables” (those who vote for the opposition party). Some call it “slum clearance” others forced relocation. The “style” reflects Mugabe’s Marxist roots.

More than 300,000 people, mostly women and children, have been evicted by this morbid plan to empty the cities of perceived troublemakers! Townspeople bitterly describe Mugabe’s plan as the Zimbabwe Tsunami! And where are people to go and to live in the surprisingly cold nights of a southern African winter?

Most of the world could care less and indeed neighboring African countries have either remained mum in solidarity with this thug, or have actually supported him! So in the midst of continental-wide crisis — Liberia, Congo, Sudan to name a few — it seems another country wants to willfully join the list of unfortunates and mendicants in the name of urban renewal?

During the 25 years of his regime’s misrule in former British Rhodesia, Comrade Bob has turned a once prosperous food exporter from a horn of plenty into the Zimbabwe ruins. Land confiscation, farcical elections and rigid press censorship has created a malevolent climate of fear. Beyond this recurring famine, hyperinflation (129 percent), unemployment (65 percent), and increasing intolerance, Mugabe’s hold on power seems secure at least in the short run.

Britain’s Economist states, “The government’s land redistribution policies, which led to the invasion of the country’s white owned farms in the past few years, has contributed to the economic catastrophe that now grips Zimbabwe.’ The magazine adds, “On top of a drought and the devastation of HIV/AIDS, the land grab has made food production plummet.”

The UN World Food Program opines that between 3 and 4 million people will need food aid this year.

The British government and most European Union states have chastised Mugabe and the U.S. has long pressed for political changes too.

The UN has sent an observer team, led by Ms. Anna Tibaijuka, the Chief of Habitat sustainable development to assess the damage and to report back to HQ. The UN observers has been allowed access to the razed towns and has had an audience with Mugabe. So what shall they report?

As the state controlled Herald newspaper reported in Harare, “At least 72 percent of Africans live in slums across Africa but in Zimbabwe only 3.4 percent do so. She said UN-Habitat had no sub-office in Harare solely because the country is far much better in terms of slum dwellings as compared to the rest of the continent.” Right, so why are they are creating the problem!!!

Homes have been leveled, lives ruined and people forced to be more dependent on the regime. And who will pay to rebuild the self-inflicted damage?? Guess. The international community given that Zimbabwe will need quite a lot to development to sustain the more than 300,000 people in need of shelter and three million souls in need of food.

On the eve of the Gleneagles summit, President George W. Bush proposes doubling America’s already robust aid to Africa over the next five years through increased trade and debt relief. In fact U.S. assistance has tripled since 2001. But good governance is as important as financial aid and thus must be linked together.

Sadly Zimbabwe’s governance, by any objective standard, could be charitably described as abysmal.

John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.




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