Source: Chimene under fire over hostile take-over | The Sunday Mail August 7, 2016
Brian Chitemba
WELFARE Services for War Veterans, Collaborators and Ex-Detainees Minister Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube has launched a blistering attack on Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Cde Mandi Chimene and war veteran Cde George Mlala for trying a hostile takeover of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) leadership.
Rtd Col Dube had no kind words for Cdes Chimene and Mlala whom he accused of leading a faction within the ZNLWVA to destablise the association.
He told The Sunday Mail that, “We want factionalism among war veterans to end. I want to put it on record that I do not support what was done by the group led by Mandi Chimene and George Mlala to attempt to take leadership of war veterans without following proper procedures.
“We do not want factionalism among the war veterans that is why we have called for the congress where we expect the input of all the war veterans not just of one faction.”
Efforts to get a comment from Cdes Chimene and Mlala were fruitless as their mobile phones went unanswered.
However, Minister Dube’s intervention comes hard on the heels of a High Court which barred Cdes Chimene, Mlala, Buhera South MP Joseph Chinotimba, Charles Mpofu, Ester Munyaradzi, Stephen Moyo and Robert Mukwena from masquerading as ZNLWA leaders.
This was after the ZNLWVA had filed an interdict seeking to bar some of its members from claiming leadership of the former freedom fighters’ organisation, saying their move would destabilise the country.
Rtd Col Dube said, “There used to be factions among ex detainees and ex-restrictees but these were resolved and now they are united. The mandate I was given by President Mugabe was to unite the war veterans.
If the war veterans are united it will be easy to take care of their welfare.
“There are a number of commercial projects which we have earmarked for the war veterans but it would be difficult to implement these projects if we do not have one united war veterans body, because we don’t want to be accused of favouring a certain faction.”
Rtd Col Dube said the ZNLWVA would soon convene a special congress to elect new leadership to replace the Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa-led executive because the latter’s relations with Zanu PF has irretrievably broken down.
It has since become complicated for war veterans to work under the current leadership when their chair Cde Mutsvangwa had been expelled from the party.
He went on, “We have asked the war veterans to consult on the congress that they are supposed to have before the end of the year; so that is what they are still doing. At the moment, there are no possible candidates to speak of because consultations are still taking place.
“We want war veterans to be properly constituted, according to the Constitution of Zimbabwe. After that the Ministry will form a board of trustees which will superintendent issues to do with their welfare. This board of trustees shall be in place by next year, we have already sent the blueprint to Cabinet, and so any time from now Cabinet will approve it then we take the document to Parliament for ratification.”
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