News / National
Zimbabwe War Veterans welfare now worse than pre-coup situation
23 Oct 2023 at 01:37hrs | Views
Andreas Mathibela, the newly elected leader of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), has expressed deep concern about the welfare of ex-combatants, describing their current situation as worse than before the coup in Zimbabwe. He pledged to engage President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the matter.
Addressing former freedom fighters who were dispossessed of their land in the timber and wildlife-rich Emmergroon estate in Matebeleland North by Zanu-PF, Mathibela lamented that their sacrifices during the country's war for liberation were now being disregarded while only a select few were benefiting from the nation's abundant wealth.
He stressed that the main reasons they went to war were to achieve both political and economic freedom, which, as war veterans, they no longer enjoyed. He expressed frustration about the concentration of the country's wealth in the hands of only a few individuals.
In 2001, the government allocated A1 farmers, including war veterans, wildlife conservancies in the Emmergroon estate. The estate was also divided into 140 plots and distributed among Zanu-PF youth.
Mathibela further explained their wish for farms with title deeds, asserting that war veterans should not be confined to areas that were historically designated for black people during the colonial era. He emphasized their desire for every war veteran to at least own an A2 farm. Plans are in motion to engage President Mnangagwa in addressing their welfare.
Mathibela has initiated a fact-finding mission to uncover the root causes of this internal conflict.
Addressing former freedom fighters who were dispossessed of their land in the timber and wildlife-rich Emmergroon estate in Matebeleland North by Zanu-PF, Mathibela lamented that their sacrifices during the country's war for liberation were now being disregarded while only a select few were benefiting from the nation's abundant wealth.
He stressed that the main reasons they went to war were to achieve both political and economic freedom, which, as war veterans, they no longer enjoyed. He expressed frustration about the concentration of the country's wealth in the hands of only a few individuals.
Mathibela further explained their wish for farms with title deeds, asserting that war veterans should not be confined to areas that were historically designated for black people during the colonial era. He emphasized their desire for every war veteran to at least own an A2 farm. Plans are in motion to engage President Mnangagwa in addressing their welfare.
Mathibela has initiated a fact-finding mission to uncover the root causes of this internal conflict.
Source - NewZimbabwe
