News / National
US hand behind war vets diatribe
11 Aug 2017 at 01:31hrs | Views
An American emissary recently visited Zimbabwe to cajole opposition political parties to form a coalition on the threat of withdrawing funding if they refused, with indications the funders of the regime change agenda were roping in disgruntled Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) members for legitimacy, it has emerged.
The American's visit last weekend saw a scramble by MDC-T to form a coalition with other small political parties.
It also witnessed the scaling up of attacks on the President and the First Family by the ZNLWVA leadership, which declared publicly during a Press conference on Wednesday in Harare that it had no problems working with the opposition in a coalition.
ZNLWVA chairperson Mr Christopher Mutsvangwa told journalists at the Press conference: "For your own information, after looking at the matrix of the Zimbabwean political scene today, the traditional enemies of the party are no longer what we are focusing on. We had differences with Zapu of Dumiso, but he was our commander during the war.
"He delivered the structure (security structure) that I was talking about. We have no issues with them. Our relations are very sound. We may have had differences with the MDC in the past but when they came on board to write the Constitution with us together and they are in Parliament, they are behaving as a loyal opposition to Zimbabwe and most of the time actually are championing the welfare of war veterans. We have no particular misgivings about them."
Added Mr Mutsvangwa: "I want to put it on record, we have no serious difficulties with those who may want to form a coalition to run elections.
"This is a democratic country. They are free to form a coalition. What we have serious differences with are those who want to negate, to abort the revolution. This is the G40. Unless Zanu-PF structures are respected, if they are not, the election would be against the G40 in 2018. Anybody who decides to be part of G40 . . . you are our target and we will deal with you."
Mr Mutsvangwa said they were going on the ground to campaign against the G40, which he said would be taught a lesson in 2018. Sources say the utterances by Mr Mutsvangwa and the scramble to form a coalition by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai rested on the promise of American funding.
They said it also explains why the American emissary was in the country recently. "An American emissary came and talked to opposition parties on the need to form a coalition last weekend. The emmissary made it clear to the opposition parties that without forming a coalition, no funding was coming their way. This prompted a scramble for signatures by MDC-T which saw the American leaving the country with a copy of contrived signatures," said the source.
It is understood Dr Joice Mujuru and her National People's Party were hesistant to join the MDC-Alliance. "Mujuru and the NPP did not want to be part of it until they had understood the full implications of the involvement of a white hand. In a bid to lure Mujuru MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai had to be seen at the inaugural NPP national convention held in Harare on Wednesday," added the source.
"We now understand there is some kind of engagement with people like Victor Matemadanda as they want the war veterans component for legitimacy in their bid to remove the President."
The opposition, however, publicly refuse foreign funding with MDC-T spokesperson Mr Obert Gutu this week telling The Herald they depended on subscriptions from supporters for survival.
The MDC-T recently lost all of its property at Harvest House after it was successfully sued by an employee over non payment of salary.
Mr Tsvangirai has defied party protocol and unilaterally formed an alliance with little-known political parties like the Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC, Transform Zimbabwe and Zanu-Ndoga led by Mr Denford Musiyarira under the banner of MDC-Alliance.
Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) and the Reverend Gerald Mubaiwa-led Zimbabwe Opposition Political Parties Council are reportedly also in the MDC-Alliance.
The American's visit last weekend saw a scramble by MDC-T to form a coalition with other small political parties.
It also witnessed the scaling up of attacks on the President and the First Family by the ZNLWVA leadership, which declared publicly during a Press conference on Wednesday in Harare that it had no problems working with the opposition in a coalition.
ZNLWVA chairperson Mr Christopher Mutsvangwa told journalists at the Press conference: "For your own information, after looking at the matrix of the Zimbabwean political scene today, the traditional enemies of the party are no longer what we are focusing on. We had differences with Zapu of Dumiso, but he was our commander during the war.
"He delivered the structure (security structure) that I was talking about. We have no issues with them. Our relations are very sound. We may have had differences with the MDC in the past but when they came on board to write the Constitution with us together and they are in Parliament, they are behaving as a loyal opposition to Zimbabwe and most of the time actually are championing the welfare of war veterans. We have no particular misgivings about them."
Added Mr Mutsvangwa: "I want to put it on record, we have no serious difficulties with those who may want to form a coalition to run elections.
"This is a democratic country. They are free to form a coalition. What we have serious differences with are those who want to negate, to abort the revolution. This is the G40. Unless Zanu-PF structures are respected, if they are not, the election would be against the G40 in 2018. Anybody who decides to be part of G40 . . . you are our target and we will deal with you."
They said it also explains why the American emissary was in the country recently. "An American emissary came and talked to opposition parties on the need to form a coalition last weekend. The emmissary made it clear to the opposition parties that without forming a coalition, no funding was coming their way. This prompted a scramble for signatures by MDC-T which saw the American leaving the country with a copy of contrived signatures," said the source.
It is understood Dr Joice Mujuru and her National People's Party were hesistant to join the MDC-Alliance. "Mujuru and the NPP did not want to be part of it until they had understood the full implications of the involvement of a white hand. In a bid to lure Mujuru MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai had to be seen at the inaugural NPP national convention held in Harare on Wednesday," added the source.
"We now understand there is some kind of engagement with people like Victor Matemadanda as they want the war veterans component for legitimacy in their bid to remove the President."
The opposition, however, publicly refuse foreign funding with MDC-T spokesperson Mr Obert Gutu this week telling The Herald they depended on subscriptions from supporters for survival.
The MDC-T recently lost all of its property at Harvest House after it was successfully sued by an employee over non payment of salary.
Mr Tsvangirai has defied party protocol and unilaterally formed an alliance with little-known political parties like the Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC, Transform Zimbabwe and Zanu-Ndoga led by Mr Denford Musiyarira under the banner of MDC-Alliance.
Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) and the Reverend Gerald Mubaiwa-led Zimbabwe Opposition Political Parties Council are reportedly also in the MDC-Alliance.
Source - the herald
