UN report (not) on Mugabe

A U.N. report on Friday called Zimbabwe's bulldozing of urban slums a disastrous venture and blamed the government for the demolition campaign but avoided putting responsibility on President Robert Mugabe.

Tibaijuka's report said some 700,000 people had lost either their homes or livelihoods or both in demolitions that affected another 2.4 million people in one way or another.

She and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his own statement, called on the government to stop evictions immediately and to ensure those who orchestrated the policy be held accountable.

I must admit that I did not expect such a strong statement from Ms Tibaijuka or the UN, especially in view of the fact that her President (she is from Tanzania) has defended Mugabe's atrocities together with the presidents of Zambia and Namibia. However, the report avoids to point the finger on Mugabe, pretending that the operation was the result of "improper advice" by a few people. This, of course, invalidates the whole report. There is no point in letting Mugabe off the hook and allow him to save face: he has condemned the report ("definitely false") and insisted that his infamous Operation Murambatsvina (Drive Out the Rubbish) "will bring joy".

The UN, where no one is ever accountable, continues to show its bias (love and respect?) in favor of dictators. The result, once again, will be that Mugabe will use the excuse to get rid of a few unwelcome collaborators (who might or might not have had anything to do with the demolition campaign) and continue to do as he pleases. At least the US and UK will use the report to put pressure on the UN Security Council and on Thabo "jellyfish" Mbeki.

To really "Drive Out the Rubbish" in Zimbabwe, Mugabe and his cronies should be chauffeured to the border.

Zimbabwe