Opinion / Columnist
Mugabe has met all the war veterans
08 Jun 2016 at 14:35hrs | Views
It sounds quite amazing, perplexing and alarming for the Zimbabwe Liberators Platform (ZLP) to accuse President Robert Mugabe of abusing former freedom fighters, alienating them from other citizens, abusing and dumping them to save his political interests and running down the country's economy. In another startling development the former Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) combatants are seeking an urgent meeting with President Mugabe over several grievances, including the seized ZAPU properties.
ZLP Secretary-general Wilson Nharingo recently said that President Mugabe had eroded the liberation war values and the country was virtually under siege from ZANU PF forces of destruction. The war veteran leader and his clique of supporters seem to be out of touch with reality. They are few malcontents who are selfish and lack the national vision. This group should not just shout for the sake of it as we know that they are seeking relevance that have been expelled from the mainstream war veteran association due to their megalomania.
It is now a known fact that ZLP members are a bunch of power hungry war veterans who are after looting and self aggrandizement. Proper and patriotic war veterans should hail the President for providing funds for demobilization, Zim $50 000 gratuities and the monthly pensions allowances. In addition to these their children's fees are catered for by the government. Moreover others who were injured during the armed struggle were paid disability allowances.
The government has always applied the quota system in allocating services be they stands, farms, houses, projects, mines and many more. These have been done and continue to be applied in honor of war veterans for the wonderful job they did in liberating this country. In view of this it would be insane to allude that President Mugabe has dumped the war veterans.
It is beyond doubt that many people in Africa if not the world envy for the leadership qualities of His Excellence President Mugabe. The efforts by war veterans to blame his decision making on economic matters are both importune and unfortunate, and leads us to the conclusion that this clique of freedom fighters are lightweights on issues of economic importance.
It seems that they believe that Zimbabwe's economic woes, past and current should be solely be laid at the door of one man and his party. This is also the mentality of the MDC supporters who are in a desperate mode to raise their political profiles. Woe to you brood of vipers for you want to destroy totally the economy of the country.
Most regime change believers allege that the economic problems bedeviling the country started when the war veterans were paid their gratuities .In this case it would be a fascinating paradox for the war veterans to say that President Mugabe has dumped them. In fact the opposite is true that the government is trying by all means and resources available to improve the welfare of war veterans.
We should all rally behind the President for trying to improve the lives of the former freedom fighters for those who had brains are doing well in life. We should also take into cognizance that beyond war veterans are the masses who also need a piece from the same cake. Therefore in their demands war veterans should think of others not to be selfish and consider the state of the economy, otherwise they might be referred to as inconsiderate. In fact the war veterans should appreciate what President Mugabe and the government have done and still continue to be doing.
Recently all the war veterans in Zimbabwe called for a meeting with their patron who is President Mugabe and presented all their grievances of which some of them were addressed promptly and others to be resolved later. To our surprise there is now the former war fighters split from the Zimbabwe National War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA) in April to launch their own welfare organisation, ZPRA.
The ZPRA Secretary-General Petros Sibanda is alleging that the ex-combatants are bitter at the government's failure to address their grievances. For instance there is discrimination between ZPRA and ZANLA war fighters. For example, once a ZPRA member retires from the army, they sink into poverty, whereas Zanla fighters are seconded to head government departments. The war veterans are also calling for the handover of PF zapu properties that included farms and buildings in Harare and Bulawayo.
Sibanda is calling for an urgent meeting with President Mugabe as the ZPRA members have many issues to be addressed, be they economic, social and political. We as the patriotic and the like minded citizens of this country of ours which is reeling under difficult economic conditions we say that more than enough grievances has already been presented to the President and he promised to met them next year.
All in all it would be valid to say that all the war veterans' grievances have been presented and they are being dealt with. Therefore it would be prudent to deal with other problems from other members of the society rather than to deal with a single quarter of the society only.
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stewart murewa <stewartmurewa@gmail.com
ZLP Secretary-general Wilson Nharingo recently said that President Mugabe had eroded the liberation war values and the country was virtually under siege from ZANU PF forces of destruction. The war veteran leader and his clique of supporters seem to be out of touch with reality. They are few malcontents who are selfish and lack the national vision. This group should not just shout for the sake of it as we know that they are seeking relevance that have been expelled from the mainstream war veteran association due to their megalomania.
It is now a known fact that ZLP members are a bunch of power hungry war veterans who are after looting and self aggrandizement. Proper and patriotic war veterans should hail the President for providing funds for demobilization, Zim $50 000 gratuities and the monthly pensions allowances. In addition to these their children's fees are catered for by the government. Moreover others who were injured during the armed struggle were paid disability allowances.
The government has always applied the quota system in allocating services be they stands, farms, houses, projects, mines and many more. These have been done and continue to be applied in honor of war veterans for the wonderful job they did in liberating this country. In view of this it would be insane to allude that President Mugabe has dumped the war veterans.
It is beyond doubt that many people in Africa if not the world envy for the leadership qualities of His Excellence President Mugabe. The efforts by war veterans to blame his decision making on economic matters are both importune and unfortunate, and leads us to the conclusion that this clique of freedom fighters are lightweights on issues of economic importance.
It seems that they believe that Zimbabwe's economic woes, past and current should be solely be laid at the door of one man and his party. This is also the mentality of the MDC supporters who are in a desperate mode to raise their political profiles. Woe to you brood of vipers for you want to destroy totally the economy of the country.
We should all rally behind the President for trying to improve the lives of the former freedom fighters for those who had brains are doing well in life. We should also take into cognizance that beyond war veterans are the masses who also need a piece from the same cake. Therefore in their demands war veterans should think of others not to be selfish and consider the state of the economy, otherwise they might be referred to as inconsiderate. In fact the war veterans should appreciate what President Mugabe and the government have done and still continue to be doing.
Recently all the war veterans in Zimbabwe called for a meeting with their patron who is President Mugabe and presented all their grievances of which some of them were addressed promptly and others to be resolved later. To our surprise there is now the former war fighters split from the Zimbabwe National War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA) in April to launch their own welfare organisation, ZPRA.
The ZPRA Secretary-General Petros Sibanda is alleging that the ex-combatants are bitter at the government's failure to address their grievances. For instance there is discrimination between ZPRA and ZANLA war fighters. For example, once a ZPRA member retires from the army, they sink into poverty, whereas Zanla fighters are seconded to head government departments. The war veterans are also calling for the handover of PF zapu properties that included farms and buildings in Harare and Bulawayo.
Sibanda is calling for an urgent meeting with President Mugabe as the ZPRA members have many issues to be addressed, be they economic, social and political. We as the patriotic and the like minded citizens of this country of ours which is reeling under difficult economic conditions we say that more than enough grievances has already been presented to the President and he promised to met them next year.
All in all it would be valid to say that all the war veterans' grievances have been presented and they are being dealt with. Therefore it would be prudent to deal with other problems from other members of the society rather than to deal with a single quarter of the society only.
-----------
stewart murewa <stewartmurewa@gmail.com
Source - Stewart Murewa
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