War vets pledge support for Mnangagwa?

THE Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) has reaffirmed its support for President Mnangagwa, pledging to leave no stone unturned as they drum up support for the ruling party during the forthcoming harmonised elections.

The war veterans said this during a general meeting, held in Bulawayo's Entumbane yesterday. The country is set to go to the polls on 23 August.

In a meeting attended by chairpersons from various provinces, ZNLWVA national political commissar Joel Mureremba, who was standing in for the organisation's chairman, Christopher Mutsvangwa, encouraged war veterans to campaign relentlessly for President Mnangagwa before the elections.

"I want to say that as an association, we are fully behind President Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF. We want it to be clear that those that do not want to toe the line, should feel free to leave the organisation because this is the resolution that we have chosen to stick to. We are here because of Zanu-PF, so we will continue to support and the upcoming elections are not going to be any different. Go back to your districts and make sure that the party wins. We want to win in Bulawayo and sweep all the districts. Right now, we are in Bulawayo but we will be going from province to province because this country is our heritage and we cannot to lose it. We want our children to inherit this country as well," he said.

Mureremba said war veterans should be galvanised by President Mnangagwa's pledge to keep improving the welfare of ex-combatants.

"The President has not abandoned us he has told us as an association that he has our welfare in mind. With that being the case, he has promised that he will continue making sure that we are taken care of. However, for that to happen, we also need to do our own part. We need to help him secure his seat and that is what we should do during the forthcoming elections," he said.

Echoing Mureremba's sentiments, Bulawayo provincial chairperson Cephas Ncube said members of the association should continue to engage positively with the Government, as the country's political leaders had their genuine interests at heart.

"We can't go to the UK or to the UN and ask them to improve our lives. That will not work. We need to engage our leaders, our Government and show them how they can find ways to improve on issues pertaining to our welfare. As for war collaborators and non-combatants, issues to do with your welfare are being attended to as well so it is just a matter of time. However, we have elections on the horizon and a large part of the Government's focus at the moment is there but efforts are being made to make sure that whatever the Government has in its coffers at the moment, makes its way to war collaborators and non-combatants. While the Government is focusing on elections, we need to make sure that we do our own part because if Zanu-PF has a successful election, then it means all these issues that we are talking about will also be dealt with successfully," he said.

Meanwhile, war veterans revealed that they had a fact-finding mission to camps where their brothers in arms that were lost in Zambia and Mozambique are buried. During the meeting, it was revealed most of the burial sites are now in a derelict state and have long been abandoned. In Chimoio, Mozambique the burial site is now reportedly a wild bush while Freedom Camp (FC) in Zambia is now hard to access, as the farm it is located in is now owned by a private individual. Mashonaland East provincial chairperson Daniel Sigauke said that the ZNLWVA had resolved to bring back the remains of combatants buried outside the county's borders.

"We went as an association and one of the resolutions was that we have to bring back the boys and girls that are buried back there back because we made a promise when we buried them that we would return for them when Zimbabwe became free," he said.