THE Zpra Ex-combatants’ Association has embarked on a nationwide mobilisation and registration exercise of its members including those still in Zanu PF.
Source: Zpra ex-combatants embark on mobilisation exercise of members – NewsDay Zimbabwe October 13, 2016
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
The association’s national co-ordinator, Tiisang Nare Dale said the mobilisation exercise was also targeting former Zapu cadres still in Zanu PF, whom he said could be scared of leaving the ruling party.
“Some of our cadres are still in Zanu PF; they are scared of leaving the ruling party after committing human rights violations against Zimbabweans. Our message to them is that they should quit Zanu PF, confess their sins, ask for forgiveness and join the Zpra association,” he said.
“We have no reason not to accept their apology. We want all Zpra cadres to be united so that we successfully advance our cause, especially welfare issues of our members, who are suffering.”
Dale said their aim was to unite all Zpra cadres to fight for their properties and also to document their war history, which they allege has been distorted by the ruling party.
The Zanu PF government seized several former PF-Zapu properties such as farms and several buildings in Bulawayo and Harare at the height of the Gukurahundi massacres, as then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe accused the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo of using the properties for nefarious reasons including keeping arms caches.
Mugabe and Nkomo later ended their hostilities, now commonly referred to as Gukurahundi, with the signing of the 1987 Unity Accord.
But, ex-Zapu members have kept demanding the return of their seized properties.
Former Zpra fighters severed ties with the Zanu PF-aligned Zimbabwe National War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) in April this year, accusing the ruling party of undermining the role played by other liberation movements during the armed struggle.
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