Garwe vows to sustain Harare clean-up as vendors resist eviction

Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe has vowed to sustain the ongoing clean-up campaign in Harare, after vendors resisted eviction and returned to the streets almost immediately after municipal police officers had cleared them.

Speaking after touring Kamfinsa and PaClide shops in Greendale, Harare East, where the government-led Operation Chenesa Harare is underway, Garwe said major progress had been made in the clean-up exercise.

“There is a lot of progress in the clearing agenda, but what we have noticed is the same people are coming at night, so we are going to have another operation targeting those who are being resistant, who are coming back in these cleared areas at night,” he said.

“We are not going to change, we are not going to look at anyone’s face, we are not going to apologise to anybody. We must clean our cities.”

Garwe also responded to concerns over vendors returning to the streets immediately after being cleared.

He said that the government had a broader plan to address the problem, though he declined to give details.

“There is a massive plan, but we have not disclosed it now. You just watch this space; you will see what is going to happen,” he said.

He said authorities will continue engaging those occupying undesignated spaces, stressing that the exercise will be carried out without the use of force, and in accordance with local authority by-laws, which both residents and authorities were expected to respect.

Garwe said the clean-up operation had first focused on removing rubbish, before shifting attention to people occupying undesignated areas.

“We wanted to remove rubbish first, which we are doing. We will now come and remove people. They must go back to their homes. Even those who are here, who are wandering here, they will be removed,” he said.

He added that the government was also engaging religious leaders to promote cleanliness and sustainable environments among their congregations.

“They are now part of this programme. They say they are going to be preaching, starting now, on sustainable environments, on cleanliness, on ensuring that there is no rubbish being thrown all over, no littering, like what we are now used to,” said Garwe.

More: The Herald