'Harare war vets meeting unsanctioned'

ZANU-PF acting Bulawayo provincial chairperson Nacisio Makhulumo has distanced the party from a group of people who rallied members and war veterans for yesterday's aborted meeting in Harare using false claims that it was to be addressed by President Robert Mugabe.

The meeting, set to be held at the City Sports Centre in the capital and addressed by ousted war veterans leader, Christopher Mutsvangwa, was blocked by the police after it was deemed illegal.

Makhulumo said the party had not been formally informed of the meeting.

"There are rumours doing rounds and some activities of insolence and people being rallied and put into buses for some meeting in Harare by a group claiming that they have been called by the President.

"We want to distance the party from such activities because the relevant structures of the party didn't tell us of such a meeting," said Makhulumo.

He said the proper channels would involve the party's commissariat department headed by Saviour Kasukuwere sending messages to provincial structures notifying members of a meeting.

"In both my capacity as party provincial secretary for administration and acting chairperson, we've not heard of such a programme in the party. We're told that some of the people involved claim to be war veterans and collaborators who have also included ordinary party members," said Makhulumo.

"We want to place it on record that the programme isn't a party programme because some innocent members have been put in those buses in the belief that the President wants to meet them yet in actual fact that isn't true."

Makhulumo said the false messages that the President wanted to meet the people were circulated via WhatsApp and other social media platforms.

"We want to let it be known that as a party, we've relevant structures that we communicate through and never through social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook or Twitter. There are laid down channels of communication from the leadership of the party," he said.

Our sister paper, The Herald, yesterday afternoon reported that anti-riot police disrupted the Zimbabwe National War Veterans Association's (ZNLWA) meeting which was due to start at the City Sports Centre in Harare by throwing tear gas canisters, resulting in running battles.

The paper reported that the war veterans were waiting to be addressed by their leaders who had not arrived at the venue by the time chaos broke out.