SUPER VIGIL PROTEST AGAINST DESTRUCTION OF HOUSES IN HARARE, ZIMBABWE.

Government Minister and City Council officials ordered the demolition of what they termed “illegal structures” much to the chagrin of a High Court judge who blasted the two authorities that they had erred and violated the laws of the land.
The Minister of Housing, Saviour Kasukuwere, and the Harare City Council both colluded to leave hard workers homeless after they ordered earth movers (graders) to erase to the ground beautiful buildings, in the presence of riot police in order to suppress any form of resistance. It was utter disgrace on the part of the perpetrators to leave men, women and children with no shelter on top of their heads.
Whats so surprising is that Zimbabwe, as a signatory of the United Nations, should have respected the Human Rights Charter (1951),on right to shelter, but the government either covertly or overtly decided to ignore or just decided to act above the law, like what they have done before with impunity.
While Zimbabwean roads are very dangerous due to so many potholes and other problems, one would have thought that it would be reasonable for a government and a city council to fuel the earth-movers to repair some potholes instead of fueling them to make people destitute.
What makes this more interesting was that the boisterous Minister of Housing together with the Harare City Council were blasted, by the High Court Judge, Justice Priscilla Chigumba, on 16 February 2016, when she said that even if the structures were illegal, in terms of Council Regulations, the process of the law must have been followed. The judge went on to point out that minister Kasukuwere and his Harare City Council officials had taken the law into their own hands in violation of the Section 68 of the Constitution.
It defies logic that a minister of such an important ministry and a city council whose responsibility is to protect their citizens and sitting tenants, ordered the demolition of properties leaving poor children, women and men with nothing to protect themselves. About 200 families were left homeless from surburbs from Arlington, South of Ashdown Park, Airport Road houses, Belvedere West, Prospect/Mainway Meadows, Budiriro, Pomona, Budiriro, Gletwyn and others.
The destruction of houses have been felt far and wide. The Zimbabweans in the diaspora have also felt it. It is against this background of punishing the opposition that Super Vigil will on Saturday 27th February 2016, hold a peaceful demonstration at The Zimbabwean Embassy against this wanton destruction of people’s hard built homes. The human rights defenders, Super Vigil will hold pictorial evidence of the home destructions.
Super Vigil would like to deplore the ZIMBABWEAN Government in general and Minister Kasukuwere and the Harare City Council in particular for their henious behaviour towards their citizens. How can minister of Kasukuwere’s stature fail to interpret the law when in such authority? Even the WarVets voiced their disgust to such cruel behaviour in their meeting on Wednesday 17th February 2016 when the Chairman of the War Veterans, Christopher Mutsvangwa said that they deplore the use of force against sitting tenants to destroy their homes, leaving them homeless, and that they didn’t go to war to fight for people to be homeless.
Super Vigil would like to invite all progressive forces to come and protest and expose this regime which treat its own citizens with impunity. This should send a message to the perpetrators of evil that the whole world is against such cruel and dictatorial tendencies and to the victims that even though we are far apart, our souls are with you. Zimbabweans in the diaspora please come and be with the souls of the vulnerable home owners at The Zimbabwean Embassy at The Strand, 429, as we protest against these acts brutality by the Mugabe regime.
By Super Vigil Administrator