Opinion / Columnist
War veterans did not back demonstrators
07 Jul 2016 at 08:47hrs | 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 fact the President has always been working and respecting the war veterans that is why he is their patron. On the other end all war veterans did not back the demonstrators as is being alleged by some war veterans and some private media.
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 as they 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 Robert Mugabe. The efforts by war veterans to blame his decision making on economic matters are both importune and unfortunate, and lead us to the conclusion that this clique of freedom fighters is lightweights on issues of economic importance.
It seems that they believe that Zimbabwe's economic woes, past and current should be solely being 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.
The Zimbabwe National War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) spokesperson Douglas Mahiya said that people have the right to demonstrate but they must not destroy property during the stay-away. He urged the people to remain peaceful at their homes than giving opportunity to hooligans who wanted to take advantage of the protests.
Mahiya in his personal capacity alleges that President Mugabe is surrounded by liars. He went on to say that self-seeking people who were entrusted with the task of stewarding and driving our economy have betrayed not only the country but also their principals who end up being blamed for their misdemeanors. In reality there is apparently no love lost between President Mugabe and the war veterans.
All in all the war veterans did not back demonstrations as others would like us to believe but were encouraging people to go for work.
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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 as they 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 Robert Mugabe. The efforts by war veterans to blame his decision making on economic matters are both importune and unfortunate, and lead us to the conclusion that this clique of freedom fighters is lightweights on issues of economic importance.
It seems that they believe that Zimbabwe's economic woes, past and current should be solely being 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.
The Zimbabwe National War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) spokesperson Douglas Mahiya said that people have the right to demonstrate but they must not destroy property during the stay-away. He urged the people to remain peaceful at their homes than giving opportunity to hooligans who wanted to take advantage of the protests.
Mahiya in his personal capacity alleges that President Mugabe is surrounded by liars. He went on to say that self-seeking people who were entrusted with the task of stewarding and driving our economy have betrayed not only the country but also their principals who end up being blamed for their misdemeanors. In reality there is apparently no love lost between President Mugabe and the war veterans.
All in all the war veterans did not back demonstrations as others would like us to believe but were encouraging people to go for work.
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Stewart Murewa <stewartmurewa@gmail.com
Source - Stewart Murewa
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