ZLHR calls upon the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the commission currently running the Harare City Council to desist immediately from violating property rights, economic and social rights, and to publicly and definitively put an end to this exercise of impunity. Statement from the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition entitled “Stop waging war against the poor” issued on 27 May 2005 Since Wednesday the 19th of May 2005, the government of Zimbabwe unleashed its regiment of violence, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, the army, the green bombers and the City Council security to wantonly destroy and torment informant merchants in the towns and cities of Zimbabwe. The Crisis Coalition strongly condemns this uncivilized behaviour and urges the government to halt its illegal attacks against the unemployed, women and poor. President Mugabe’s war against the poor comes in the background of unsustainable foreign currency, fuel and food shortages. In an economy where the informal sector employs 80% of the labour force, torching people’s markets and arresting street kids will not help the economy let alone bring fuel, foreign currency or fill the granaries of Zimbabwe. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition is perturbed by the selfish and confused manner in which the government suspends common sense in dealing with socio-economic and political issues bedevilling the country. The organization urges the state to respect human lives and uphold the rule of law. The police should also desist from attacking innocent Zimbabweans who have been driven into poverty by the current government. The flimsy explanation that the current terror is war on dirty (sic) is as silly as it is far from the truth. It smacks of hypocrisy that the government spends millions of dollars destroying market and industrial stalls, the livelihood of its people looking for foreign currency whilst the people within government continue to send their children to schools and colleges abroad paying in foreign currency. The current war on workers is in contrast to one of the virtues of the liberation struggle, sovereignty. The Mugabe regime is negating the wishes of thousands of people who sacrificed their lives for independence. This confirms that the people of Zimbabwe are not free from their government, and people will not let their let their sovereignty and freedom go. Sovereignty will be guarded and the people have begun to do so in various townships of Harare and this should continue. Zimbabweans have a right to self-determination as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic. Electoral democracy and popular governance means free and fair elections and consultative processes of governance. Having fair in using the gun to guard power and ideas has the risk of inviting equal force, especially when the poor workers and peasants have fallen victim to a government’s native imperialist actions. At a time when the people are hungry, it makes more sense for the government to use people’s taxes to secure fuel and food, rather than using people’s taxes to buy teargas. Arrests, torture and property vandalism in the name of “cleaning the city” does not bring foreign currency, food or fuel. The government needs to reconsider its domestic and domestic and foreign policies for no, however, wonderful, monetary policy its adopts will fortunes of Zimbabwe form the current slumber without the people’s support. The government must urgently compensate the full market value of these informal sector traders and withdraw its infrastructure of violence from residential areas. It is also prudent and important for the government to remove the art of waging wars with fictitious enemies from its political reference library. The current onslaught against Zimbabweans will not solve the twin crises of legitimacy and governance.