The main official explanation for the campaign against informal settlements and shanty dwellings seems to be that, not only had this housing being erected illegally without proper permits and planning permission, but these settlements had no proper sanitation and posed a health hazard, and they also harboured criminals, such as robbers, prostitutes, and illegal immigrants. In general, the official explanations have been confusing, and occasionally at variance with each other. There has been no comprehensive policy statement from the Government, but it seems evident that the catch-all terminology, Operation Murambatsvina, can be used to cover a very wide range of reasons. For example, an official with the Harare City Council, Leslie Gwindi, announced that the police would be targeting offices set up in homes in the more affluent suburbs, whilst a senior police officer was quoted as saying that this was apparently on the grounds that such offices were an inappropriate use for domestic housing in the context of a housing crisis . 35 Some commentators have also noted the alarming similarity in the name of the exercise to the infamous campaign to deal with dissidents in Matabeleland in the 1980s, and indeed there is an unfortunate similarity in meaning between “Murambatsvina” and “Gukurahundi”. It is also noteworthy that the security forces in both exercises seemed to have wide and sweeping powers. Possible real reasons for campaign The timing and magnitude of the ‘clean-up’ operation has led to much speculation as to whether there are in actuality other reasons than the officially proclaimed ones behind this operation. The main opposition party and several commentators have maintained that the real reason behind the campaign is to punish the urban poor for voting in substantial numbers for the opposition party in the March election. Connected to this, these persons maintain that the Government was also seeking to depopulate the cities of MDC supporters by driving them into the rural areas where the ruling ZANU (PF) party dominates, and where they can be effectively controlled. There are various difficulties with the thesis that the entire campaign was aimed at the punishment and rural relocation of MDC supporters. As a number of ZANU (PF) officials have pointed out , although the campaign has 36 affected many dwellers and vendors who are MDC supporters, it has also affected many staunch ZANU (PF) supporters, particularly war veterans who established housing co-operatives on land occupied during land invasions. Additionally, amongst the people affected are people who originally came to Zimbabwe from other countries, such as Malawi or Mozambique, and there are no rural areas in which these persons are entitled to settle. Furthermore, there are many MDC supporters who have been driven out of their rural areas and would not be welcome back in those areas. Nonetheless, it is possible that, either before, or during the operation, the ruling party appreciated that it would be politically advantageous to force appreciable numbers of MDC supporters to move away from the towns and cities.