Zim security forces gear up for mass strike

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s security forces were bracing for a mass strike this week against a highly controversial urban clean-up campaign that has left thousands destitute and led to the detention of at least 22 000 in Harare, a police spokesman said yesterday.

“We are geared to ensure safety and security for all,” police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena told AFP, referring to a planned two-day protest due to start tomorrow. “We already have information that some individuals and motorists want to disturb the flow of traffic by blocking roads.Police will impound any cars used in such activities.”Bvudzijena said the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change and some non-governmental organisations wanted “to engage in illegal mass action.”A coalition of opposition, labour, students and rights groups calling themselves the Broad Alliance has called for “a two-day nationwide stayaway from June 9 to 10 to protest against the insensitivity of this government.””It (the government) has destroyed people’s homes, it has destroyed the livelihood of millions of innocent people in the informal sector,” a statement issued by the group late Monday said.”It continues to inflict misery on the people through economic mismanagement which has led to shortages of fuel, unemployment and transport problems.”Military helicopters hovered over Harare’s central business district and residential areas at several points on Monday in what was interpreted by many as a fear-instilling tactic.On Monday evening, baton-wielding police patrolled central Harare, dispersing commuters lining the streets for transport to take them home.Bands of armed police have gone on the rampage in the last two weeks in major towns across Zimbabwe, demolishing and torching backyard shacks and makeshift shop stalls in a campaign that has drawn widespread condemnation.Affected families have been sleeping in the open in several townships and slums on the outskirts of Harare while others are battling to find transport to take them to their rural homes.Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition party, last week called for protests against the clean-up campaign and called for foreign intervention to pressure President Robert Mugabe’s government to end the controversial drive in major towns and cities.A UN expert last week accused Harare of “a gross violation of human rights” and of creating a “new kind of apartheid.””We already have information that some individuals and motorists want to disturb the flow of traffic by blocking roads.Police will impound any cars used in such activities.”Bvudzijena said the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change and some non-governmental organisations wanted “to engage in illegal mass action.”A coalition of opposition, labour, students and rights groups calling themselves the Broad Alliance has called for “a two-day nationwide stayaway from June 9 to 10 to protest against the insensitivity of this government.””It (the government) has destroyed people’s homes, it has destroyed the livelihood of millions of innocent people in the informal sector,” a statement issued by the group late Monday said.”It continues to inflict misery on the people through economic mismanagement which has led to shortages of fuel, unemployment and transport problems.”Military helicopters hovered over Harare’s central business district and residential areas at several points on Monday in what was interpreted by many as a fear-instilling tactic.On Monday evening, baton-wielding police patrolled central Harare, dispersing commuters lining the streets for transport to take them home.Bands of armed police have gone on the rampage in the last two weeks in major towns across Zimbabwe, demolishing and torching backyard shacks and makeshift shop stalls in a campaign that has drawn widespread condemnation.Affected families have been sleeping in the open in several townships and slums on the outskirts of Harare while others are battling to find transport to take them to their rural homes.Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition party, last week called for protests against the clean-up campaign and called for foreign intervention to pressure President Robert Mugabe’s government to end the controversial drive in major towns and cities.A UN expert last week accused Harare of “a gross violation of human rights” and of creating a “new kind of apartheid.”