War vets to hold indaba next week

War veterans have said their much-anticipated meeting will be held in Harare on March 10 to map the way forward on a wide range of issues affecting their members.

In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association spokesperson Douglas Mahiya said police had been notified about the event, but had not yet been given a response.

Last year, war veterans were teargassed after they tried to meet in the capital to push the government to address their grievances.

"We notified police about nine days ago and they couldn't give us a response. So we complained to them that we might take time to organise an event that might not materialise. We were left with no option, but to seek legal advice and we were told that police must not approve, but must be notified. We don't want a repeat of what happened last time," Mahiya said.

He said the meeting is meant to take stock of what they have achieved with regards to their objectives as war veterans.

"We want to look at ourselves as people who joined the liberation struggle and what did we want as groups or as individuals. When we did that, what did we achieve?

"Did we achieve our objectives of going to the liberation war? And if we failed, why did we fail and what is it that we failed, what is it that made us to fail? We will come out with a way forward," Mahiya said.

He said they will also be looking at why, after investing so much for the freedom of Zimbabwe, they were allegedly being rendered irrelevant.

Mahiya said the meeting would also seek progress reports regarding their meeting with President Robert Mugabe last year.