War vet collapses, dies in vetting queue

A 66-YEAR-OLD war veteran collapsed and died while awaiting her turn to be vetted at Elangeni Training Institute in Bulawayo on Sunday.

The vetting process is also targeting non-combatant cadres, ex-political prisoners, detainees, restrictees and war collaborators in recognition of their contribution to the country's liberation struggle.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the sudden death yesterday and identified the deceased as Nomathani Moyo.

"I can confirm that Moyo collapsed and died while she was in the queue during a vetting exercise at Elangeni Training Institute," Ncube said.

Meanwhile, ex-Zipra fighters have complained that the time set for the vetting exercise was too short.

This came out during a Zipra Veterans Association vetting exercise held in Bulawayo last Friday.

During the meeting, war veterans expressed fears that they could miss the registration deadline.

The second phase of the 12-day vetting exercise began on Sunday.

The Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Economic Empowerment Programmes and Vetting Exercise was launched last year in June by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Under the second phase of the programme, applicants are supposed to report for vetting at various centres across the country's 10 provinces where teams are deployed to ascertain their credentials.

Defence and War Veterans Affairs minister Oppah Muchinguri recently said war collaborators would be vetted from March 20 to 31, war veterans from March 20 to 31, non-combatant cadres from March 20 to 26, ex-political prisoners, and detainees and restrictees from March 20 to 26.