Zipra war vets group backed by Dumiso – NewZimbabwe 03/04/2016
THE Dumiso Dabengwa led ZAPU says it is fully supportive of plans by members of its former military wing, Zimbabwe People`s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), to form a splinter association from the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNWLVA), saying the latter has failed to address the welfare concerns of ZIPRA veterans.
The decision was endorsed at the party`s National People`s Council (NPC) that was held in Bulawayo on Saturday. The council accused the war veterans’ association of losing focus and entangling itself in factional politics currently playing out in the ruling party, Zanu PF.
“The Party welcomes the initiative by members of its former armed wing ZIPRA to form an independent association within the confines of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association,” ZAPU deputy spokesperson, Patrick Ndlovu, said in a statement.
“The Party concurs with the sentiments expressed by the ZIPRA Veterans that the ZNLWVA has by and large failed to adequately articulate and address the welfare concerns of the ZIPRA Veterans.
“Instead that association has mired itself in the partisan politics of the regime and dragged itself into the succession dogfights of ZANU to the detriment of its founding values and principles based on the ignored plight of the country’s liberation fighters for the first 17 of the country’s independence.”
The bitter factional fights in the ruling Zanu PF party, pitying the G40 and the Team Lacoste factions, have sucked in the former freedom fighters.
A crunch meeting between the war veterans and President Robert Mugabe, who is their patron, has been slated for this week in Harare, where the former freedom fighter are expected to table their grievances to the veteran leader.
However, on his return from Japan, where he had gone on a state visit, President Mugabe lashed out at the war veterans, saying the ruling party will not take orders from the association.
Meanwhile, ZAPU spokesman Ndlovu added that the NPC had agreed on a date for their 10th national congress, which was meant to be held last year.
“The ZAPU National People’s Council (NPC) set the end of August 2016 as the date for the Party’s 10th National Congress which was postponed last December due to financial constraints.
“The Party is confident that the teams which were put in place to prepare for Congress will succeed in their mandate,” he said.
The opposition party also took pot-shots at under fire Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa for his alleged role in the 1980s Gukurahundi atrocities.
ZAPU members were targeted in the massacres.
“ZAPU also advises Emmerson Mnangagwa to either tell the truth about his publicly known role in the Gukurahundi massacre or to just keep quiet and enjoy the feeding frenzy on the gravy train.
“The victims and their families deserve closure on that painful and shameful chapter in the history of this country. ZAPU knows that the ZANU regime lacks the moral courage to own up to its role in the planning and execution of its massacre of Zimbabwean citizens simply on the basis of their preferred political allegiance,” Ndlovu said.
He added: “As the government ZANU owes an explanation to the victims, the country and indeed the world at large as to the true motive behind a holocaust similar to the NAZI anti-semitism, not in scale but in cruelty and effect.
“The ZANU regime has a legal obligation to release to the public the findings of the CCJP and Chihambakwe Commission. We advise Emmerson that should his conscience compel him to talk about Gukurahundi it should be on the above issues and not some thinly veiled attempts to justify his bloody hands.”
The Zanu PF government has kept secret the findings of the Chihambakwe Commission.
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