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Time for war vets to stop Mugabe autocracy

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FIREWORKS are expected at the crunch meeting between the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA) and President Robert Mugabe in Harare this Thursday.

FIREWORKS are expected at the crunch meeting between the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA) and President Robert Mugabe in Harare this Thursday.

NewsDay Comment

MUGABE

Despite the defiance within the ZNLWVA membership, Mugabe has always been said to carry a heavy presence that often sees those who would have snarled at him from a distance cowering in fear and reverence on seeing him.

But Zimbabweans hope that this will not be the case during the critical indaba scheduled for Thursday meant to contain the simmering displeasure within the governing Zanu PF party.

The war veterans owe it to themselves and the country’s future generations to ensure that the wrongs afflicting this nation have to be righted, even if it means telling Mugabe to let somebody take over the reins for the good of the country.

For long, war veterans have been like the government’s lapdog dancing to Mugabe’s every tune even when costly decisions to the nation were being made.

Therefore, on Thursday, the biggest message they should deliver to Mugabe — that is, if they have not been whipped into line — is that no one, including the President himself, is bigger than Zimbabwe.

In fact, Thursday’s meeting should mark a departure from the norm and see the ex-freedom fighters taking their rightful position where they are able to raise the red flag when the objectives of the liberation struggle are violated through political excesses.

This is not about the Christopher Mutsvangwa-led ZNLWVA leadership, but if the war veterans had played this watchdog role from the beginning, Zimbabwe would not be in this political and socio-economic mess that has made the country the laughing stock of the whole world.

It is heartening that the ex-combatants have finally awakened to the reality that they are not an affiliate of Zanu PF and it is hoped that their message will find takers in Mugabe and his political elite who have held this country to ransom for far too long.

While the war veterans have been angered by being ascribed an “affiliate” tag, the same anger should show over how the party has run down the economy through a raft of ills such as leadership deficiency, misgovernance, pervasive corruption and other malpractices.

The war veterans should constantly remind those entrusted with running the State, and the Zanu PF johnny-come-latelys that hold on to the coattails of power, that the war of liberation was not fought so that just a few could live in ill-gotten comfort and luxury at the expense of the majority.

The war veterans have really shown some bark in the run-up to the crucial indaba, and it would be good to see a matching bite when D-Day arrives. This notwithstanding, the fact that Mugabe has employed tactics to divide them through threats and promises for top government appointments, war veterans should stick to their guns. The majority is behind their actions; Mugabe must relent to save Zimbabwe.

While it is without doubt that the war veterans have blundered by going to bed with Mugabe’s regime for three decades, here is an opportunity to redeem themselves, and Zimbabweans can only hope that they will not blow away this golden opportunity.

People do not live on unfulfilled promises, let alone abuse at the hands of some misguided political elements who still believe in killing, maiming and hurting only for Mugabe. The suffering brought about by Mugabe’s misrule is unbearable.