Veterans Of The Liberation Struggle Threatens To Divorce ZANU PF

By Own Correspondent

Lupane – Zimbabwe’s veterans of the liberation struggle are threatening to divorce ZANU PF if treasury fail to review their salaries before August.

The veterans are getting a paltry RTGS$5 000 monthly allowances and according to their Veterans of the Liberation Struggle board chair Major General (Rtd) Gibson Mashingaidze, “it’s a shame.”

On top of getting the little allowance, the veterans have also complained against being discriminated and segregated in party structures.

“We are not recognised within the party’s structures despite us being the stock holders there.

“There are very few war veterans in the party’s provincial structures at most not more than one
We are being muscled out in all the party’s structures maybe except at cell level.

Positions in the party are now being attained using financial muscles, and numbers. Many of our fellow war veterans are dead meaning we are now few, the mafikizolos have out numbered us and they have the financial muscles,” said one of the war veterans in Matebeleland South asking for anonymity, fearing victimisation.

According to Major General Mashingaidze, in some provinces war veterans or their children and widows are being evicted from farms. That situation prompted the Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs Oppah Muchinguri to write to her Lands minister recently to stop the fuss.

In Mashonaland East, the war veterans said they will nor hesitate to cross the boundary this time to join the opposition parties.

“It appears the party only reckons us during campaigning times love for us is seasonal within the party, they want us when they want manpower to mobilise supporters towards election time”, another war veteran said in Mashonaland West.

These utterances are coming out at the ongoing tours by the Veterans of the Liberation Struggle board.

The board is consulting war veterans, cadres and ex detainees on areas they want improvements.
In Mashonaland East, they demanded a face to face meeting with President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is also the party’s First Secretary.

They also said the president is failing to drive ministries to embrace a clause in the constitution that allows them 20 percent employment opportunities in all government ministries and departments.

Norton legislator earlier argued in Parliament on the process of looking into the database of the remaining number of war veterans left in the country done by people who never participated in the liberation struggle.

The recently released shocking number of 160 000 war vets, left tongues rolling on the authenticity of the process alleging Zanu pf rigging tactics and suffocation on treasury.

Currently the Courts are seized with the matter of 38 war vets speaking against their welfare and conduct of government business by the second republic led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.