Former Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra) members have appealed to President Robert Mugabe for the release of title deeds of properties owned by the former Patriotic Front Zimbabwe African People’s Union (PF Zapu) then led by the late nationalist Joshua Nkomo.
The former Zipra combatants met over the weekend and resolved to follow up on a letter they wrote to President Mugabe in 2009 following up on title deeds of properties that were returned to them in 2004.
In the late 1980s, government seized all properties belonging to the PF Zapu and its military wing Zipra, at the height of the Gukurahundi massacres.
However, some of the properties are yet to be returned to the two organisations.
Yesterday, Zipra Veterans’ Trust acting chairperson Buster Magwizi said government returned three farms and a hotel to the former liberation movement, but they did not get the title deeds, which forced them to write to President Mugabe after the formation of the inclusive government.
“We are still awaiting the delivery of title deeds of these properties,” he said.
“The last time we wrote a letter to the President in 2009, as a request from the members of the trust, we were asking the President to intervene and ensure that we are given the title deeds of the properties that were returned to us in 2004.”
Magwizi said the title deeds were there at Tredgold Building in Bulawayo.
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“We have not received any response from the President’s Office. We got the properties from the then Vice-President Joseph Msika and we believe he was sent by the Head of State,” he said.
Magwizi said they were interested in finding a peaceful resolution to the issues of their welfare and properties. “These properties should not be confused with Zapu properties,” he said.
“But, as war veterans, we made contributions at the assembly points of over Z$50 (per person), which was equivalent to the British pound at that time,” he said.
