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NewsDay

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May true war veterans, please stand up!

Opinion & Analysis
Since independence, we learnt how gallant our war veterans were. We read and listened to stories of how they sacrificed, spilled blood and strategised to win our country back from the hands of colonialists. The stories were flawless, touching, inspiring and captivating. We were proud of them.

Since independence, we learnt how gallant our war veterans were. We read and listened to stories of how they sacrificed, spilled blood and strategised to win our country back from the hands of colonialists. The stories were flawless, touching, inspiring and captivating. We were proud of them.

Tapiwa Gomo

With all due respect to the men and women who genuinely went to war with the genuine desire to get the country back to the people, the war veteran of today is nothing, but a pale silhouette — one who seeks political favours from the establishment — the same that hires and fires at will
With all due respect to the men and women who genuinely went to war with the genuine desire to get the country back to the people, the war veteran of today is nothing, but a pale silhouette — one who seeks political favours from the establishment — the same that hires and fires at will

We learnt to respect them because they were heroes who returned our lost dignity. They were our super heroes. We sang their names, idolised and immortalised them. Our education system reinforced and embedded the liberation war ethos and characterised their names as the epitome of bravery, courage and unrelenting. Today the phrase ‘gallant son/daughter’ anchors the lexicon of national hero eulogies.

However, considering events unfolding before us today, one can be forgiven to think that the war hero discourse is a fallaciously constructed narrative that conceals the real story on the verso of the book of the struggle. With all due respect to the men and women who genuinely went to war with the genuine desire to get the country back to the people, the war veteran of today is nothing, but a pale silhouette — one who seeks political favours from the establishment — the same that hires and fires at will. That’s not war-veteran-like.

By virtue of their status, war veterans are supposed to remain non-partisan and steadfast in championing and promoting national interests. Their voice is supposed to be the voice of reason. They are supposed to be fearless opinion leaders and the vanguard of balancing political power. But alas, ours are political slaves who of late have become a spineless easily ejectable lot that suffers a serious lack of belonging. Perhaps, it is time they told us that the war was to give the country to one man and everyone involved in it enslaved to achieve that goal, hence power is so centralised.

When one looks at the current Zanu PF, most of their senior members, who went to war, have been kicked out by those who did not go to war. Yes, war veterans, the ones we grew to know as liberators of our country — those who, used to be the untouchables — are being expelled from their party by those who were either studying or were too young to go to war. It is now safer to be a G40 than a war veteran. While change is good for any organisation, the way some war veterans received their dismissal is as surprising and embarrassingly unbefitting of war veterans.

As this drama continues to unfold, the people of Zimbabwe watched and are still watching with keen interest on how “the brave men and women” would react to being displaced from the party they called their home for over four decades. They have been used to maim people and get votes for the party. They were the tools that destroyed our economy for the sake of their party. As seasons change, they have been embarrassed, called names, dragged to court by the same establishment they were part of and some lost benefits.

One would expect a reaction from “real” war veterans — with the same vigour they showed during the campaign for veterans’ war compensation fund, land reform and to save Zanu PF in 2002 elections. What we have seen recently is a lame duck image of people who crowded themselves in a court room as one of theirs faced trial for challenging the establishment. Fighters neither cry foul nor fold their hands amid such turbulence.

Where did that war veteran courage go? My generation wonders if indeed, this crop of war veterans are the same who gunned down helicopters and performed many of those heroics we read about. The youth of today have done their part and continue to do so. So did the labour movement, but the war veteran’s voice is missing even as they are now on the receiving end.

A few names come to mind. Joseph Chinotimba is enjoying the comfort of his parliamentary seat as he continues to feed from the calabash. He is playing it safe. Dabengwa found his retirement space in Zapu while, Jabulani Sibanda, who proved stronger as a Zanu PF employee, was the easiest pushover. Former Vice-President Joice Mujuru, one of the most senior of all took a sabbatical leave after her embarrassing ouster before finding solace in her newly formed party. Unless she offers more than tourist politicking, her time in politics may just be nigh. Coffee with people she once denounced while in Zanu PF and government is not a bad idea.

Zimbabwe War Veterans’ Association leader Christopher Mutsvangwa is the biggest let down. His courage lies in words, not in action. We expected more from a man who has chosen to be a wordsmith than a fighter. He has chosen to fire big words at those who never went to war, but still got him fired. His recent reference to Zanu PF as not a papacy or caliphate, speaks of a man who can’t let go of a partner to new spouse. Mutsvangwa, there are two options to this game. You either fade away, let time bury you gracefully; or fight your game, and let the nation see your true war veteran mantle.

Don’t deprive us an opportunity to see your war veteran prowess. This is the time and Zimbabwe needs leadership right now out of the current abyss and not so much of your verbose.

Tapiwa Gomo is a development consultant based in Pretoria, South Africa