We want to fall under army – War Vets
By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |
The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) wants to revert to operating under the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) instead of the current ministry it had been moved to.
The War Veterans Welfare ministry took over the guardianship of the ex-combatants when it was formed after the 2014 Zanu PF congress.
However, the former freedom fighters who form the army reserve force, are not happy with the Tshinga Dube-led portfolio, saying it has failed to respond to their needs and must be discarded.
“That ministry should just be disbanded. They have failed on their duties. For example, we still have war collaborators, who are supposed to be vetted, but instead of concentrating on that, they are worried about plundering the few dollars the ministry has on accumulating hotel bills and paying allowances for a few,” he said.
“Before the ministry, we were under the army and during that time, our welfare was better compared to now. They should just disband it and revert to placing war veterans under the army,” ZNLWVA secretary general told the local media.
Douglas Mahiya, the wav vets’ spokesperson, accused Dube, a war veteran in his own right who took over from ZNLWVA chair, Christopher Mutsvangwa when he was fired, of leadership failure.
“The ministry is not necessary, as it has neither spoken in defence of its constituency. The ZNLWVA and its membership condemn in no uncertain terms the evil in the ministry’s efforts to undermine a legitimate leadership of liberators of this country.
“It’s shameless and hypocritical behaviour that after a published letter in which the minister denied any involvement in the affairs of the association still commits itself to ignore the provisions of the Zimbabwe constitution and that of the war veterans’ association,” he said.
The relationship between the war veterans and the army has largely been warm.
The current ex-fighters leadership which has publicly supported Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over from President Robert Mugabe, was formed at an army barracks.
Top military officials were linked to the authorship of a document attributed to the war vets that condemned Mugabe as a “genocidal dictator” who must immediately leave office.
Top generals, among them the ZDF commander, Constantine Chiwenga, are reportedly firmly behind Mnangagwa against a rival faction, Generation 40 (G40) to which Mugabe’s wife, Grace and several top ministers belong.
G40 is unpopular with the army for its lack liberation credentials, but also because its members recently denigrated the generals and war vets. Nehanda Radio
