Suspension of the Mutare mayor When the UN Special Envoy visited Mutare, she was taken to a camp where displaced people were living under very poor conditions. The Provincial Governor, who is a member of ZANU PF, allegedly tried to prevail upon the Mutare mayor, who is a member of the MDC, to delay the Special Envoy‘s visit to this camp until people had been removed from the camp, and the camp had been cleaned up. The mayor did not follow these instructions, but instead took the Special Envoy to the camp so that she could see for herself the deplorable conditions under which the displaced persons were living. Subsequently, this mayor and three other council officials were suspended for alleged ―financial indiscipline‖, allegations that they flatly deny. The MDC has issued a statement alleging that these suspensions are blatant retribution for the action of the mayor in revealing to the Special Envoy the bad conditions at the holding camp. 24 Discrimination in the allocation of new housing Vice President Msika has declared that Government would build houses for whoever needed them, and would not discriminate in the allocation of housing on the basis of party political affiliation. However, there have already been reports that members of the main opposition party are being discriminated against. In one report from Bulawayo, it is alleged that the non-Constituency Member of Parliament representing ZANU PF has been tasked with compiling the list of beneficiaries for the Bulawayo area, and that the list he had drawn up was full of ZANU PF supporters and excluded MDC supporters. 25 Continued arrests of vendors Contrary to the Government abiding by the recommendations of the UN Special Envoy, and the Govenrment‘s own statement that Operation Murambatsvina has ceased, the ZRP continue to arrest vendors. A recent newspaper report indicated that the ZRP are arresting more than 200 people daily. Quoting police spokesperson, Edmore Veterai, the report stated that ―teams of police were patrolling the streets of Harare, and are scoring successes against criminals‖. It is clear that desperate citizens are being forced back into informal trade in order to survive, but the state continues to criminalise these people. 26 The failure of the courts to dispense justice Resort was had to the courts to try to prevent or stop the various forms of illegal action being perpetrated in the name of Operation Murambatsvina. Regrettably, apart from in one case in Goromonzi, the courts have conspicuously failed the litigants. One particularly glaring example of this failure is the High Court decision in the case brought by members of a housing co-operative in Harare. This case was referred to