Zimbabwe's Mugabe defends shantytown crackdown

HARARE - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has defended the recent razing of shantytowns and a crackdown on small traders as part of a government push to curb corruption and raise the black majority's stake in the economy.

Mugabe spoke at the official opening of a new parliament, which the main opposition boycotted as part of a two-day strike to protest against the crackdown that critics say has deprived tens of thousands of people of homes and livelihoods.

"The current chaotic state of affairs where (small businesses) operated outside the regulatory framework and in undesignated and crime-ridden areas could not be countenanced for much longer," Mugabe told parliament, meeting for the first time since elections in March that critics say were rigged.

Thousands of people have been arrested and thousands more have seen informal business premises razed and goods confiscated in what the government calls a campaign to root out crime - including illegal trade in hard currency and basics like sugar that have become scarce due to economic crisis.

Former colonial ruler Britain and the United States, which have slapped sanctions on Zimbabwe's ruling elite, joined in a chorus of local and international criticism.

"We condemn the clearances that are taking place and the terrible impact it's having on people's lives," Hilary Benn, Britain's international development secretary said in London.

Mugabe said the government would introduce mandatory penalties for illegal trade in foreign currency and precious metals, which authorities say has thrived in shantytowns.

He made no direct reference to a two-day "stayaway" called by civic groups and backed by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which appeared to draw little popular support as it began on Thursday.

BLACK EMPOWERMENT

Mugabe said bills to be tabled in parliament included amendments to mining laws to rationalise the issuing of prospecting orders and to open up the foreign-dominated sector to locals.

Parliament would also consider a black empowerment bill and amend the constitution to reintroduce a senate, create a single electoral commission and streamline procedures to complete controversial land reforms, he said.

Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party can change the constitution at will thanks to a two-thirds parliamentary majority clinched in March polls the MDC says were rigged - a charge ZANU-PF denies.

Critics say disruption caused by the seizure of white-owned farms for blacks is largely to blame for chronic food shortages since 2000, worsening the woes of Zimbabweans already facing erratic supplies of fuel, record inflation and unemployment.

Mugabe says it was necessary to restore land stolen from blacks during colonialism and denies responsibility for the country's economic crisis. Instead he blames sabotage by local and foreign opponents of the land grab.

Civic groups called for a strike to protest against the crackdown on shantytowns.

But analysts said the MDC's decision to wait until Wednesday to back it smacked of indecision within its leadership, and may have undermined the public's willingness to take part.

Police had warned against the protests and searched cars heading into Harare, but most businesses opened as usual.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said police had arrested three activists in the second city Bulawayo, but police denied this.

Mugabe, 81, who laughed off rumours this week that he had died of heart failure, showed no obvious signs of ill-health as he delivered his speech to parliament.

- REUTERS