'Mugabe has lost authority'

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has lost the authority to regulate activities in both the ruling Zanu-PF and government to the extent of allowing anarchy, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) secretary-general, Victor Matemadanda has said.

Matemadanda told NewsDay in an interview on Thursday that Mugabe must fire Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko and Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere - the Zanu-PF commissar - if he wants the war veterans to continue supporting him.

Matemadanda said the public humiliation faced by Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa at the hands of junior party officials and insinuation that the army was involved in illicit activities was evidence of "the new-found hatred against freedom fighters".

"What country in the world has a President who allows his army chief and VP to be humiliated in public by junior officials or mere activists? Instead of admonishing such behaviour, he actually stands at a podium to demand that the VP should come clean," he said.

"The attack on Mnangagwa and Defence Forces Commander General Constantino Chiwenga is an indication of how desperate they are to get rid of anyone connected to war veterans or the struggle. It is a sign that no one is in charge and people can now do as they please."

Matemadanda said the war veterans' leadership was under pressure to appeal from "some quarters within Zanu-PF".

"The decision to expel us from Zanu-PF, now infested by those who supped with the enemy or, worse still, had not yet been born when the party was formed, is a non-starter," he said.

"We joined pragmatic parties at the time, Zanu and Zapu, because they were open to criticism and new ideas. Not the kleptocracy and dictatorship we see now. We will only appeal if G40 is removed because we will not be able to work with an ideologically bankrupt Kasukuwere and a manifestly corrupt Mphoko.

"We cannot be expected to appeal to appease someone or to be forced into tolerating nonsense. We will not appeal because it is as good as appealing to your executioner or your accuser. Mphoko is the head of the appeals committee and, because he has a vested interest in seeing that we do not go back to the party, he will make sure we are gone."

Matemadanda said instead of blaming the opposition for demanding the revamping of the State security sector, "actually elements in Zanu-PF want security sector reform more than anyone".

"That is why they accuse the military of trying to bomb them," he said, referring to comments made by First Lady Grace Mugabe at a rally early this year claiming the army was planning to kill Mugabe's youngest son, Chatunga.
Matemadanda said war veterans' leaders were being victimised for "telling the truth".

"ZimAsset (the government's five-year economic policy blueprint) has benefitted just about five people and none among the poor. We have pointed out the corruption at Zesa and in the illegal allocation of stands, but we are accused of insubordination," he continued.

"G40 is benefiting from the illegal sale of land and the allocation of stands at Zanu-PF rallies is a dangerous precedent. It means we are creating Zanu-PF residential areas and what will happen if someone else takes charge of the country? It means those from the opposition and, worse still, those without political inclination are being left out, which is dangerous."