An in-depth Study on the impacts of Operation Murambatsvina 3. METHODS A structured questionnaire was used in the collection of data from 1195 respondents in 3 urban centres of Zimbabwe, namely Harare, Bulawayo, and Mutare. Training of enumerators: Enumerators who had previously participated in the Operation Murambatsvina studies were engaged for this study. Training of enumerators took place at a central location, where 30, 20 and 10 enumerators from Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare, respectively, were trained on the administration of the instrument. Pre-testing and subsequent modification of the instrument took place during the training day. 3.1 Sampling Administrative boundaries were used since these would help in the identification and prioritization of wards and assess the impact of the Operation and direct influence on defining livelihood characteristics of households. Furthermore, this ensured that overlapping of areas covered was avoided. Three urban areas were selected based on the previous survey, which suggested these were the worst affected areas. An enumerator was responsible for data collection in each ward over a 3 day period. A total of 58 wards were surveyed, as follows: 3.2 Sample size Table 1: Sampled areas and proportions sampled Area Number of wards Sample size Harare 28 570 Bulawayo 21 386 Mutare 9 239 Total 58 1195 3.3 Proportion of sample (%) 48% 32% 20% 100% Areas surveyed 3.3.1 Harare Harare is the capital city of Zimbabwe with an estimated population at 1,444,534 based on the most recent census (excluding Chitungwiza which is home to 321,782 and Epworth, 113,884). Most industrial and commercial companies are located in Harare. Harare has 45 administrative wards and of these 30 are high density suburbs. Offices of government are located in Harare. Currently city council affairs of the city are being run by a government appointed commission after the line minister responsible for local government fired the elected opposition MDC mayor and the 45 ward councillors. 12