War Veterans Persecuted for calling for Mugabe to step down

Heal Zimbabwe Trust has said the arrested of war veterans in early July  were a clear victimization after they called for President Robert Mugabe to step down.

The trust said  the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) leadership was arrested and publicly disparaged for speaking negatively against the political economy and the actions of some government ministers.

"In a stinging Communiqué, allegedly authored by War Veterans on the 16th of July 2016, they called for President Mugabe to step down from national leadership," said the trust. "The concerns raised in the Communiqué are a result of the government's failure to address the group's candid concerns following their foiled meeting on the 18th of February 2016 at Harare City Sports Centre and ‘so called crunch meeting with the President on the 7th of April 2016 at the ZANU PF headquarters in Harare."

The trust also said on 18 February 2016, the government disrupted the War Veterans planned and police cleared meeting using coercive force.

"The former freedom fighters were dispersed using teargas, water cannons and baton sticks. Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa, the War Veterans Leader described the treatment like the Marikana Massacres in South Africa where 44 miners were killed in cold blood," said the trust.

Mutsvngwa said "These are the war vets who were subjected to such treatment by the State. We equate such brutality to the South African Marikana scenario. Clearly to see police bringing out paraphernalia of violence and beat up war vets who are unarmed, the best they had were cell phones. Its equivalent to Marikana scenario because the State has gone berserk," he said. "We don't know why the state has gone berserk," Therefore, any irreconcilable conflict between ZANU PF and war veterans signals potential political instability in the country as both parties are capable of violence."

The trust said in view of the above, it can be noted that Zimbabwe is sitting on a boiling society that can potentially erupt into violence.

The truist said warnings and registration of disappointment by the former freedom fighters should be heeded and their concerns must be addressed amicably.

"It is unfortunate that the government has chosen to treat the former freedom fighters as dissidents rather than a frustrated social group needing a remedy. While meeting a certain faction of the War Veterans and ZANU PF youths, the President labelled them ‘dissidents worth dealing with them like the 1980s Gukurahundi victims" said the trust. "However, war veterans can potentially trigger violence because they are capable and they have demonstrated it during the election times against members of the opposition and the entire society in general."

The trust said it is therefore, reasonable for the government to take active measures to pay attention to War Veterans issues and address them in a peaceful way in order to maintain peace and order as well as preventing the generation of fertile grounds for violence.