News / National
War vets meets Mugabe again
22 Aug 2017 at 07:05hrs | Views
War veterans are preparing for another meeting with President Robert Mugabe before the end of this year, War Veterans minister Tshinga Dube has said.
Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, Dube said they were having provincial meetings with war veterans in all provinces in preparation of their indaba with the president.
"We are supposed to meet the president every year and currently we are preparing for the indaba, we are having war veterans' provincial meetings around the country.
"We want to unite the war veterans, we want to put war collaborators, former political detainees and restrictees under one roof. We have some challenges, so we want to deal with those challenges before meeting the president," Dube said.
This comes as the Christopher Mutsvangwa-led Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) is increasingly drifting away from the ruling party and gravitating towards the opposition.
Mutsvangwa, who is linked to the Team Lacoste faction in Zanu PF that is campaigning for Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to succeed Mugabe, warned the incumbent recently that he was not a super human and were ready to work against his re-election bid ahead of the 2018 polls if he does not ditch the Generation 40 (G40) faction.
He said the liberation war fighters would be going around their structures informing their membership not to vote for the rival G40 associates, who include Mugabe's wife Grace.
"There is nothing magical about becoming president of Zimbabwe. It all comes from the people. He has no magical wand to pass on to his wife to protect herself when Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere go for her.
"Only the institution will protect her but they are trying to destroy the institutions. That's why we stand by the army, the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) and the security establishment. The president is not a super human being.
"We are going to make sure that the election is going to be held free and fair whether G40 wants it or not.''
Mutsvangwa's statement came after First Lady Grace Mugabe threw the cat among the pigeons by challenging her nonagenarian husband to anoint a successor.
Grace took the unprecedented step of nudging her reluctant husband to name his heir-apparent when she addressed members of the Zanu PF women's league national assembly at the party's headquarters in Harare last month.
She reasoned that it was the trend in other countries for their leaders to handpick their successors, saying that act alone could also enable Zanu PF's warring supporters to close ranks.
Her sentiments have, however, fuelled the infighting in Zanu PF, with the two factions in Mugabe's party — Team Lacoste and G40 — latching onto her calls to advance their agendas.
Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, Dube said they were having provincial meetings with war veterans in all provinces in preparation of their indaba with the president.
"We are supposed to meet the president every year and currently we are preparing for the indaba, we are having war veterans' provincial meetings around the country.
"We want to unite the war veterans, we want to put war collaborators, former political detainees and restrictees under one roof. We have some challenges, so we want to deal with those challenges before meeting the president," Dube said.
This comes as the Christopher Mutsvangwa-led Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) is increasingly drifting away from the ruling party and gravitating towards the opposition.
Mutsvangwa, who is linked to the Team Lacoste faction in Zanu PF that is campaigning for Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to succeed Mugabe, warned the incumbent recently that he was not a super human and were ready to work against his re-election bid ahead of the 2018 polls if he does not ditch the Generation 40 (G40) faction.
He said the liberation war fighters would be going around their structures informing their membership not to vote for the rival G40 associates, who include Mugabe's wife Grace.
"There is nothing magical about becoming president of Zimbabwe. It all comes from the people. He has no magical wand to pass on to his wife to protect herself when Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere go for her.
"Only the institution will protect her but they are trying to destroy the institutions. That's why we stand by the army, the CIO (Central Intelligence Organisation) and the security establishment. The president is not a super human being.
"We are going to make sure that the election is going to be held free and fair whether G40 wants it or not.''
Mutsvangwa's statement came after First Lady Grace Mugabe threw the cat among the pigeons by challenging her nonagenarian husband to anoint a successor.
Grace took the unprecedented step of nudging her reluctant husband to name his heir-apparent when she addressed members of the Zanu PF women's league national assembly at the party's headquarters in Harare last month.
She reasoned that it was the trend in other countries for their leaders to handpick their successors, saying that act alone could also enable Zanu PF's warring supporters to close ranks.
Her sentiments have, however, fuelled the infighting in Zanu PF, with the two factions in Mugabe's party — Team Lacoste and G40 — latching onto her calls to advance their agendas.
Source - dailynews
