THE Christopher Mutsvangwa-led national executive of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA) is reportedly holding a crunch indaba this week that could decide the trajectory of their floundering relationship with President Robert Mugabe and the ruling Zanu PF party.
BY RICHARD CHIDZA
Sources told NewsDay yesterday that the war veterans’ leadership was meeting to “chart the way forward” following the backlash caused by the July 31 communiqué and their subsequent expulsion from the ruling party.
“We will meet to discuss mainly our relationship with the ruling party, the continued harassment of our members and the general deterioration of the political, social and economic environment in the country,” a senior member of the ZNLWVA said on condition of anonymity.
ZNLWVA spokesperson Douglas Mahiya confirmed the matter, but declined to disclose the date and venue of the meeting.
“We have been planning for a meeting and soon we will meet. I cannot say when and where, but indeed the national executive under Mutsvangwa will meet to take stock of our situation,” Mahiya said.
Relations between the former freedom fighters and Mugabe, their patron, have hit an all-time low, particularly since the release of a damning communiqué that proposed that the 92-year-old leader steps down.
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Mugabe has obstinately refused to give in to their demands, and instead summarily fired Mutsvangwa, Mahiya, war veterans’ secretary-general Victor Matemadanda, vice-chairperson Headman Moyo, national commissar Francis Nhando and Harare provincial leader Hoyini Bhila.
Except for Mutsvangwa, the others are now on bail awaiting trial for insulting Mugabe via the hard-hitting communiqué that described the Zanu PF leader as “genocidal and manipulative”.
Mahiya yesterday went one step further and described Zanu PF without the war veterans component as a faction. “Zanu PF minus war veterans is equal to G40. It is a faction that is sponsored by Western nations to destabilise, not only the party, but also the country. If Mugabe is leading a Zanu PF without war veterans, then he is leading G40. It is that simple and that is how war veterans feel,” Mahiya said. “In fact, they have turned the revolution into a feeding trough for their relatives. Nepotism is rife and Mugabe’s relatives form the cabal that is now corruptly amassing wealth at the expense of ordinary Zimbabweans, who children gave up their lives for our independence.”
Mahiya said the Zimbabwean revolution had been hijacked “by people who were and are still pushing the enemy’s agenda”.
“When nationalism spread in Zimbabwe, the British planted people everywhere, including universities and the political movements of the time. Zanu was not spared, but people must understand those of us who were already in exile had devised a clear plan to dislodge colonialism.
“Anyone who did not fire a gun, did not consistently and persistently fight the enemy was not trained and belonged to the civilian leadership that took over after chairman Herbert Chitepo had a different ideology to that which was used to prosecute the war.”
Mahiya added that the majority of war veterans now felt shortchanged by Mugabe’s civilian Zanu PF leadership.
“These civilians headed by the current leadership hoodwinked us into believing that they were socialist, but their discarding of the leadership code showed us that they were capitalists from the word go. We will, however, not be cheated again. War veterans and the people must remain resolute to fight this animal that has hijacked the revolution,” he said.
