Mutsvangwa tears into Jonathan Moyo, Kasukuwere, Zhuwao

WAR veterans yesterday accused a faction in Zanu-PF of peddling falsehoods against the ex-freedom fighters by linking them to various political outfits in the country.

Addressing a Press conference in Harare yesterday, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA) chairman Christopher Mutsvangwa said G40 kingpins had no idea how the economy functioned as they were focusing on "shallow political vindictiveness that is isolating the country from global capital".

The former War Veterans minister said it was unheard of for a country like Zimbabwe with numerous resources to be in such miserable state.

Responding to allegations that they were organising an alliance of opposition parties to face Zanu-PF in next year's elections, Mutsvangwa said although they believe in unity, it was not the duty of the "failing" G40 faction to align them to any political outfit in the country.

"Since they expelled us, they (G40) have been acting like hawkers, selling us to every opposition party in the country. They are hawking us to every opposition figure in this country and who are they to hawk us? We haven't declared any allegiance to any of those parties. Who is G40 to speak for us? They are not our spokesman, and we are our spokesman," he said.

Mutsvangwa described war veterans as masters of strategy and practitioners of tactics, saying their line of defence were the people of Zimbabwe.

"We want to state that we are not a political party, we have never been a political party and we will not be a political party," Mutsvangwa said.

"When we fought we had to teach the whole country to become a united front in order to achieve a common cause. We have pursued united front politics all our life because we want the maximum unity from all Zimbabweans."

He said the reason why their foes were alleging all "funny" conspiracies against them was that they were haunted by the fact that they were in positions they do not deserve and the prospect that one day tables would turn against them.

Mutsvangwa said it was ironic that they were fired on the basis of supporting Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa. He said up to now the VP was still there and as a "desperate" move, G40 was trying to marry them with many political outfits or individuals like Econet founder Strive Masiyiwa.

He described the G40 faction as intellectually bankrupt with its ministers in Cabinet failing to offer anything tangible.

"The resources of Zimbabwe are as high as Mount Nyangani and the mind of Jonathan Moyo (Higher Education minister) is as shallow as Batoka Gorge, very small. And now you can understand why there are no jobs, you can understand why everyone is applying for a passport to leave the country. There is a very small mind," Mutsvangwa said.

He alleged Moyo was "functionally illiterate, worse in business he knows nothing".

"He wrote some stupid document called ZimAsset which he sold to the country as the panacea to all the problems. What has it delivered? Grinding poverty which worsens by the day," Mutsvangwa said.

He alleged Zanu-PF national commissar Saviour Kasukuwere was following Moyo blindly while Youth and Indigenisation minister Patrick Zhuwao "acts like a puppy".

The war veterans' leader said the Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial elections should be an eye opener that things were falling apart in the G40 faction.

Mutsvangwa described War Veterans ministry secretary Walter Tapfumaneyi as a "busybody who thrives on intimidating people over his past experience in the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation". He, however, said President Robert Mugabe was still the war veterans' patron. Mutsvangwa said command agriculture was becoming successful because it was in the hands of the army and not the G40 faction.

Kasukuwere, Moyo, Zhuwao and Tapfumaneyi could not be reached for comment last night.