Mutsvangwa cosy with Mugabe, again

By The Zimbabwe Independent | May. 22, 2017 | 2 Min read

WAR veterans chairman, Christopher Mutsvangwa has denied there has been a cooling of relations between the former freedom fighters and their patron, President Robert Mugabe, ahead of their scheduled second indaba mid-next month.

BY BLESSED MHLANGA

The latest development comes several months after the two parties’ relations took a nosedive following a damning communique authored by the war veterans denouncing Mugabe as genocidal and autocratic.

“As chairman, I want to assure the public and the national body politic that there are no contentious issues between ZNLWA [Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association] and their patron, HE [His Excellency] Robert Mugabe, the President of the Republic. By the same token, war veterans are delighted with the ever-warming relations with the First Family as a whole,” Mutsvangwa told NewsDay at the weekend.

Angered by the contents of the unsigned communique, whose author has remained anonymous, Mugabe wielded the axe and fired Mutsvangwa’s entire war veterans executive from Zanu PF, but the latter stuck to their guns and refused to be pushed out of the leadership of the former freedom fighters.

Mutsvangwa absolved Mugabe of orchestrating their fallout, but heaped all the blame on the party’s under-fire Zanu PF political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere and the G40 faction.

“The end is nigh for the G40 cabal and its diabolic power grab pretences. Our fight was never with President Mugabe, but G40,” he said. “We also take opportunity to reassure all and sundry that we have excellent relations with the entire defence and security establishment. (Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander) General Constantino Chiwenga enjoys our utmost trust and confidence.

“We are of the shared military progeny, as a young man sacrificing only life for freedom and independence in the 1960-70s. The bonds of blood are too strong to be torn asunder by children’s play type trickery of G40.”