IBPP Research Associates: Zimbabwe

This article - As people reflect on rejection of draft constitution: Observers call for dialogue to map out way forward - was written by a staff writer of The Herald of Zimbabwe and published in early 2000. It discusses the political process of a Constitutional Commission in Zimbabwe, which was under the rule of Robert Mugabe. The full article has not been provided due to copyright restrictions. Please contact The Herald (https://www.herald.co.zw/contact-us) for more information

In the service of tyranny: debating the role of planning in Zimbabwe's urban `clean-up' operation

The paper debates the role of planning in `Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order', Zimbabwe's 2005 controversial urban clean-up campaign. The discussion critically assesses two perspectives regarding the purported contribution and complicity of planning in what critics perceive to be the machinations of a regime that is internationally viewed as nefarious. This is done, first, by interrogating the role and contribution of planners and planning to the instigation and design of the operation before it was launched and, secondly, by determining the extent to which planners and planning served as the handmaiden of state repression during the operation. After weighing relevant empirical evidence on the culpability of planning, the discussion concludes that, while planning may escape the first charge, it certainly has a case to answer on the second