Source: War vets ‘lure’ Mugabe – DailyNews Live
CHIEF WRITER 2 May 2017
HARARE – War veterans have made the first move to try and mend their
relations with President Robert Mugabe after they lavished with praise
their former patron for his recent speech at the burial of former
ex-combatant and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) assistant
director, Zenzo Ntuliki.
The war veterans have been feuding with Mugabe since they issued a damning
communique against the increasingly frail nonagenarian mid last year.
In a surprising development, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans
Association (ZNLWVA) chairperson and former Cabinet minister Chris
Mutsvangwa said former freedom fighters were inspired by Mugabe’s Saturday
eulogy at the National Heroes Acre.
“As War Veterans, we wholeheartedly welcome…Mugabe’s…speech delivered
at the burial of… Ntuliki. We are particularly heartened by the
recognition and the accolades showered upon our defence and security
establishment which owes its existence to the pain and sacrifice of
gallant young men and women of the 1960-70s.
“That generation of youthful patriots selflessly bore arms as Zanla and
Zipra to dislodge the evil minority racist settler colonial regime and
gave birth to the new State of Zimbabwe. In equal measure we salute
both…Mugabe and the late Father Zimbabwe Joshua Nkomo for providing the
militant leadership leading us to freedom and independence in 1980 and
their subsequent sterling roles in nation building,” said Mutsvangwa.
This is in stark contrast to what the former freedom fighters said
recently after the burial of yet another hero, James Murozvi, also at the
National Heroes’ Acre, as they felt affronted by Mugabe’s speech.
Then, Mugabe said unlike some war veterans, Murozvi was loyal to Zanu PF
until his death, as he attacked the Mutsvangwa-led executive. On Saturday,
the nonagenarian delivered a riveting eulogy and chose the burial of
Ntuliki, to remind Zimbabweans about the key role that spooks have played
in the country’s body politic. “Isu zvatiri pano hatingomhanyemhanye
tichingodauka dauka zvisiri mugwara rinoonekwa nevaongorori vedu, nyanzvi
dzedu dzine maziso, nzeve neruzivo rwekuti apa pakaipa, apa pane nyoka …
musafambe nepo pane nyoka mungarumwe (I always make my moves with advice
from the CIO which warns me about my enemies).
“Saka tinopiwa nyanzvi dzine maziso anooona zviri kure kure nenzeve,
dzinonzwa zvinonyeyewa. Ndiko kurarama kwedu (The intelligence operatives
who work with me are top drawer spooks who can sniff out any threats well
ahead.)
“The fact that he (Zenzo) is being laid here is a demonstration that he
was a comrade, a comrade at arms.
“Self sacrifice was one of Ntuliki’s strongest attributes … sacrifice
did not mean just going out and joining the other comrade. It meant that
at heart, in your own mind as a comrade you were truly decided, come what
may to fight for the country,” Mugabe told mourners gathered at the
National Heroes Acre in Harare.
Mugabe has been having a tough time with war veterans ever since they
issued a scathing statement on him in mid July last year.
Until that happened, the fed-up ex-combatants had served as Mugabe’s and
Zanu PF’s pillars, waging particularly brutal campaigns against opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC, especially in the bloody elections
of 2000 and 2008.
Their stunning fallout with Mugabe and Zanu PF later saw Mutsvangwa, being
fired from both the Cabinet and the ruling party last year, while many of
their other top leaders were also banished from the imploding former
liberation movement, in addition to being hauled before the courts.
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