and restoring order within urban areas.37 Whatever the real motivations behind the Operation, it is clear that Zimbabwe, like most other African countries, is confronted by serious and mounting challenges related to rapid urbanization, including inadequate shelter and rising pressure on urban infrastructure and services. Chapter 2 of this report turns to an examination of these challenges. 37 David Coltard, an MDC Member of Parliament, argued that Operation Restore Order was symptomatic of the Government of Zimbabwe’s general lack of respect for the rule of law and that the Operation had breached a series of laws, including those related to housing and urban councils. He also highlighted the fact that no budgetary provisions had been made for the construction of new housing in the wake of the Operation which, in his view, showed that the Operation had neither been conceived nor planned before the parliamentary elections of March 2005, as claimed by the Government of Zimbabwe. 21