via Mugabe snubbing us: War vets – NewsDay Zimbabwe March 11, 2016
WAR veterans have expressed anger at President Robert Mugabe’s decision to fly out of the country, leaving them stranded after promising to meet them this week to iron out their differences.
by XOLISANI NCUBE/STEPHEN CHADENGA
Mugabe left for Singapore en route to India for the World Culture Festival on Monday after he had arranged a meeting with the war veterans today after their initial indaba was disrupted by police three weeks ago.
Their second meeting was deferred to this week to allow Mugabe, who is the war veterans’ association’s patron, to attend per his request.
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association (ZNLWVA) secretary-general Victor Matemadanda yesterday said he was still in the dark as to when they would hold their extraordinary indaba to discuss various matters affecting the welfare of ex-freedom fighters.
“It is really sad that as war veterans, we are going through this. We feel someone is not taking our issues seriously as an association. We are engaging the (War Veterans) minister (Tshinga Dube) to ensure that we meet and find a way forward on the extraordinary meeting because we feel a lot is happening in the party (Zanu PF) that needs our attention, but we now don’t know what is really happening,” he said.
“I hope the new Minister of War Veterans, Tshinga Dube, will help us hold this crucial indaba.”
He added: “I am waiting to hear from him. He has been trying to call me in the morning, but where I was, the network was bad, hence we could not communicate well. I am looking forward to talk to him and hear from him what the plan is.”
But insiders said war veterans felt “abused and let down by Mugabe”, who knew that he was travelling, but decided to postpone their meeting.
“The President’s programme is known in advance. So one wonders why our meeting, which was scheduled for last week, was moved to this week. Even if they wanted to fire Cde (Christopher) Mutsvangwa, they would still have allowed him to stand in as chairman of the war veterans and allow us to hold our meeting,” an association member said on condition of anonymity.
Dube on Monday said he had requested Mugabe to delay meeting war veterans so he would work to unite the warring factions within the ex-freedom fighters.
“What will be the benefit of having the President address five factions of war veterans? I have a lot of work to unite them before they meet the President. Furthermore, we need time to prepare for hotel accommodation, food, transport and other things that they might need,” Dube said.
“There is need for the war vets to be united so that their concerns are addressed. We have to deal with issues of poverty and unity.”
Dube took over from Mutsvangwa last Saturday. Previously, he was Mutsvangwa’s deputy.
Yesterday, war veterans in Midlands said Mutsvangwa was still the association’s leader and vowed to support him.
The liberation war fighters, who held a provincial meeting yesterday at their offices in Gweru, made a unanimous resolution that Mutsvangwa could have been suspended from the Zanu PF politburo and lost his post as War Vets minister, but he was still ZNLWVA national chairperson.
“That the Midlands war veterans recognise Mutsvangwa as the national chairman of the war veterans and will continue supporting him,” part of the resolution read.
The war veterans also resolved that an urgent meeting with Mugabe, as their patron, be held to save Zanu PF from total collapse by “elements in the party who are counter-revolutionary.”
Midlands war veterans chairperson Virginia Mupasu said it was critical that the freedom fighters protect “Cde Mugabe’s powers from being further plucked by Zanu PF infiltrators”.
“We have to be vigilant as war veterans. There are elements within the party who are, day in and out, plucking President Robert Mugabe’s powers,” Mupasu said. “We have said there is only one centre of power in Zanu PF, but the centre is being destabilised by counter-revolutionaries in the party.”
The meeting, which was emotionally charged, saw the veterans occasionally breaking into war songs.
They said the actions by the police to teargas and use water cannons against their comrades in Harare last month was not different from the actions of the Rhodesian police.
“Right now, some of our comrades are still hospitalised following the incident and we still wonder if it is a crime for liberation fighters to meet and discuss their welfare,” Mupasu said.
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