Source: Zapu to establish welfare fund for its vetarans – NewsDay Zimbabwe
By NQOBANI NDLOVU
OPPOSITION party, Zapu, is set to establish a social welfare fund to meet the needs of its members and wartime comrades who are wallowing in poverty, the party’s social affairs department has said.
Thousands of Zapu cadres, who participated in the country’s armed struggle under its military wing, Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra), are swimming in poverty and they accuse the government of ignoring their plight.
According to Zipra, less than 5 000 ex-combatants have been vetted and are eligible to receive monthly pensions and other related benefits due to war veterans. Zapu secretary for social affairs Mildred Mkandla said ageing party members were living in poverty, which had necessitated the need for a social welfare fund to cater for their needs.
“Some of the things we need to review and refine include better information brokerage through our structures so that our needy members have timely access to existing public institutions and services, particularly the ageing and bereaved,” Mkandla said in a message to mark the party’s 59th anniversary.
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