THIS week, the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) for the umpteenth time since independence 46 years ago came up with a new list of demands to the government, further entrenching their sense of entitlement and exceptionalism.
The war veterans do not shy away from waving their sole credential of having participated in the war of liberation.
They have been thanked and given payouts in the past, but they still want some more.
They, for whatever reason, do not want to marry their struggles to the broader national issues that are affecting every citizen.
War veterans remain a rare breed and exceptional citizens.
ZNLWVA spokesman Cornielius Muwoni told a Press conference: “We will continue to engage with the government to ensure our concerns are addressed.
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“We are appealing to the relevant government departments to release funds for the school fees of children of war veterans.”
The war veterans further made appeals for increased pensions, enhanced healthcare services, and continued educational support for war veterans’ children.
“We will continue to push for more presentations and appeals to the President for more programmes for us,” Muwoni added.
The veterans of the liberation struggle’s demands do not end there.
They also want real political power in Parliament and State departments.
“At the same time, we do not want to be cry-babies, but it is our time to demand quotas in areas such as Parliament and government departments. We must get it,” Muwoni emphasised.
Let us for a moment contextualise the war veterans demands and what they have received since independence in 1980.
Soon after independence, war veterans were paid demobilisation funds.
This was money to help them reintegrate into communities and start other small projects if they were recruited into security sector or government departments.
We can make a distinction between guerilla trained (Zanla) and conventionally trained (Zipra) veterans.
The manner in which they used their demobilisation funds was starkly different.
Zanla ex-combatants used their payouts as individuals in contrast to Zipra, who pulled their resources and bought properties.
Zipra properties included commercial farms, industries, hotels and commercial buildings in towns.
The individual members became shareholders, who would beside being employed by the companies, also received dividends.
In the 1990s, government introduced a fund that was not well publicized, but had millions of dollars.
It was aptly named, War Victims Compensation Fund.
When the majority of veterans became aware of the fund, it was nearly depleted.
They, therefore, demanded to be paid gratuities and monthly pensions.
Under pressure, the government acceded to the demands.
It paid more than 40 000 veterans Z$50 000 each (around US$ 4 000) as a lump sum and committed to paying them Z$2 000 monthly pension.
This came at a heavy price for the nation.
The local currency tumbled from local currency $10 to the green back to $25 to the US unit.
The Zimbabwean economy went into a free fall for the next two decades after that.
The veterans further demanded and received 20% of all the expropriated land from white commercial farmers at the turn of the century.
They also demanded a 15% stake in all indigenised companies.
These same veterans have also spearheaded formation of housing co-operatives in urban areas to establish houses.
The government also gave in to this demand.
The last demand about quotas in Parliament and government departments and parastatals have been on the table for a long time.
However, the irony of the demand is that since 1980, Parliament was dominated by war veterans with the exception of the 30 non-constituency MPs the government could appoint.
Many of the veterans were absorbed into the security sector, some into parastatals as well as on to boards of State enterprises.
What further baffles the mind is in 1997, we had 40 000 veterans on record.
Assuming the youngest combatant was 16 at independence, it means today in 2026, they would be 62.
How many 62-year-olds do will still have?
Are these the same people who want to get quotas?
Something is wrong somewhere.
It is important to look at the national issues such as pensions, medical aid, education support, land allocation/audit, indigenisation as non-partisan issues.
These are issues that need a holistic approach compared to the piece-meal and fragmented approach favoured by war veterans.
It is a fact that all pensioners are struggling.
It is a fact that even those employed in private sector, the majority do not have medical aid.
It is undisputed that the majority of those formally employed earn below poverty datum line and hence struggle to pay school fees for their children.
It, therefore, follows that these issues need urgent government attention.
The government for one reason or another should come up with a minimum wage policy etched in law.
The government should expedite the implementation of the universal health insurance and a comprehensive and sustainable public education funding.
These issues are national and not only exclusive to war veterans.
Therefore, they should be addressed from a national perspective.
It is time that war veterans, while their contribution to the liberation struggle is acknowledged, they should start thinking themselves as members of the same community as all other Zimbabweans.
They should use their powerful voices to transform the lives of all Zimbabweans not simply their narrow and parochial interests.
For once, they have to be national and drop the sense of exceptionalism, credentialism and entitlement.
They are after all Zimbabweans and the liberation was a people’s war.
I’m out!
- Paidamoyo Muzulu is a journalist based in Harare. He writes here in his personal capacity.