Zimbabwe: No justice for the victims of forced evictions 11 Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle houses at Gaza in Chipinge (left) and Cowdray Park, Bulawayo (right) in May 2006 © Amnesty International, 2006 Housing – destruction and rebuilding Government figures* Total houses destroyed, May – July 2005: 92,460 Total rebuilding target: 15, 825 Total number of houses actually built by May 2006: 3,325 * All figures are from government sources. Explanation in text below. Housing According to government figures given to the UN Special Envoy and quoted in her report some 92,460 housing structures were destroyed between 18 May and 5 July 2005. Obtaining information on the number of houses the government intends to build under Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle is difficult as the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development has published different figures. In a glossy publication dated December 2005 33 the Ministry stated that the target for house construction for phase I of Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle was 5,275, while the target for phase II was 10,550. Phase I was said to have ended in August 2005 while no timeframe was given for phase II. However, in May 2006 a public notice in the offices of the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development claimed the total number of houses planned under Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle was 7,478.34 Regardless of which is the correct figure, it is clear that almost a year after Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle was launched the government has failed to meet even the lowest of its targets. As of May 2006 only 3,325 houses had been constructed countrywide (less than five per cent of the total number of housing structures 33 Government of Zimbabwe, “National Housing Delivery Programme 2004 – 2008, Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle Shelter for the People”, December 2005. 34 The figure 7,478 was displayed publicly in the lobby of the Ministry for Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development when Amnesty International visited that Ministry in May 2006, seeking a meeting with ministry officials to discuss Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle. Amnesty International 8 September 2006 AI Index: AFR 46/005/2006