When Mugabe paid war vets $50k in 1997 it was a bribe, freedom fighters became mercenaries

The war veterans under the command of the late Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi in 1997 forced Mugabe to award them Z$50 000 gratuity each plus monthly pensions for life. They also demanded to have 20% of all land expropriated from former white commercial farmers

A lot of things have been done to benefit war vets only for those in power getting the lion's share of it. Many of the war vets have died in abject poverty because there was no way they would have prospered whilst the rest of the nation was getting poorer by the day. The war vets' economic situation should have been addressed in the context of the national situation but once some people heard of the $50 000 it was impossible to be heard and so people like Hunzvi carried the day.

Before 1997 war vets were in the same camp as the ordinary people and the two groups shared the economic suffering and they called for an end to corruption with one voice.

Ever since the war vets received the $50 000 they up their sticks and joined the Zanu PF ruling elite. It was impossible to refuse the money and having received it was impossible to criticise the party for being corrupt. Of course it was a bribe to buy war vets silence and loyalty to whatever President Mugabe and Zanu PF was doing.
 
The war vets were divided into two groups, those like Chenjerai Hunzvi who felt that war vets were full members of the Zanu PF ruling elite and thus entitles to a fair share of the nation's wealth regardless the consequences of these activities to the common people. They were willing to be the party's storm troopers who task was to silence the public and keep political opposition to President Mugabe and Zanu PF at bay.

The second group of war vets saw accepted the bribe but would not do the party's dirty work of silencing the public. Many saw this as a rerun of the Gukurahundi madness and wanted to have nothing to do with it. But having accepted the monetary bribe and then the seized white farms they have been as silent as the grave about criticising President Mugabe and/or what the more vocal war vets were doing.

Now President Mugabe has appointed a cabinet Minister to look after the welfare of war vets, Minister Mutsvangwa. This is just another sop to keep the storm-trooper group of the war vets sweet. In the light of the economic hardship this is one ministry that will get a wafer thin slice of the national cake in terms of budgetary allocation and get even less in cash.

As a freedom fighter many of us really believed we were fighting for freedom for all blacks and not a select few. Today, after receiving President Mugabe's bribe, everything has been twisted yesteryear's freedom fighter is fighting to deny the people their freedom and liberty.

There is nothing money cannot buy. Still, the $50 000 bribe has not saved most war vets from poverty, I cannot put my finger on what I bought with it. Worse still, before I got the bribe I believed in something and was proud of my contribution as a freedom fighter but that all changed.

Chenjerai Hunzvi called the $50 000 gratuity but it was a lot more than that it was a share of the mercenary's reward money Zanu PF leadership have been extorting from the people since independence. The sicken thing is the debt the people owed to the party for fight the war is never paid. Whilst Zanu PF party leaders like President Mugabe have transformed from liberation war heroes to dictators, war vets have been transformer from freedom fighters to paid mercenaries at the beckon and call of the dictators.