Sixteen former Zipra fighters join Zanu-PF

SIXTEEN former ZIPRA combatants have joined Zanu-PF in Bulawayo, citing renewed confidence in the ruling party's leadership and a shared desire to contribute to national unity and development.

The former liberation fighters were formally received on Thursday at a Zanu-PF cell in Nketa suburb, marking what party officials described as a symbolic return of cadres to the revolutionary fold.

Welcoming the combatants, Zanu-PF Director of the War Veterans League, Voltan Ekem Moyo, said the liberation struggle did not end with political independence but had evolved into the defence of national sovereignty and the pursuit of economic development.

"Every war veteran who sacrificed for the liberation of this country is welcome in Zanu-PF. The war against imperialism is still ongoing, and those who fought for this country have a duty to safeguard its sovereignty," said Moyo.

He added that President Emmerson Mnangagwa had consistently called for inclusivity and unity among liberation war veterans, regardless of whether they fought under ZANLA or ZIPRA.

"The President has made it clear that everyone has a role to play in growing the economy. These former ZIPRA combatants who have joined Zanu-PF will have a voice in national development and contribute meaningfully to the growth of the country," he said.

Moyo also urged other former ZIPRA cadres who remain undecided or politically disengaged to reconsider their stance.

"The Zanu-PF basket is big enough to accommodate all liberation fighters," he said.

One of the returning combatants, Mitsho Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu (71), described joining Zanu-PF as a personal homecoming after years outside active politics.

Ndlovu said he crossed into Botswana in 1976 before proceeding to Zambia, where he received military training under former Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General (Retired) Philip Valerio Sibanda.

"A year later, in 1977, I was deployed to the Northern Front, where we engaged the Rhodesian forces. We had enough ammunition, but the challenge was waiting for other groups to bring it from Zambia," he said.

"We never retreated — instead, we expanded our operational areas."

After independence, Ndlovu joined the Zimbabwe National Army on August 28, 1980, retiring in 1987.

"We are the ones who liberated this country, and joining Zanu-PF is one of the best decisions I have made," he said.

He revealed that the former ZIPRA combatants are expected to meet Zanu-PF National Commissar Munyaradzi Machacha in Bulawayo in the near future.

"Machacha phoned us and confirmed that he will meet us in due course," he said.

Another combatant, Elliot Mhlanga, said he was only 19 when he crossed into Zambia via Botswana in 1973 to join the armed struggle.

From Lusaka, he was sent to Libya for advanced military training before proceeding to the former Soviet Union, where he trained in the Ukraine region, in Odesa.

"I was among the cadres who underwent training with the KGB before returning to Zambia. We later operated in Sipolilo, now Guruve, before being redeployed to Nkayi," he said.

Mhlanga said he was at St Paul Assembly Point when the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement ushered in a ceasefire.

After independence, he joined the Zimbabwe National Army and retired in 1988.

"Zanu-PF remains the only party rooted in the liberation struggle. I am happy to have joined the revolutionary party," he said.

Liberation war veteran Mavis Dube said she joined the armed struggle in 1976 with three classmates from a secondary school in Nkayi.

Trained in the former Soviet Union, Dube said the hardships endured during the war were justified by the freedom Zimbabwe enjoys today.

"Some of us stepped away from active politics due to past differences. I never joined the army after independence, choosing instead to raise a family. But the time has come to join Zanu-PF and be part of building the country," she said.

The move by the former ZIPRA combatants reflects Zanu-PF's ongoing efforts to consolidate liberation war credentials and promote unity among former fighters, particularly in Matabeleland, where historical divisions have long shaped post-independence politics.

It also comes amid renewed calls for national cohesion, broader economic participation and greater recognition of liberation war veterans as key stakeholders in Zimbabwe's development trajectory.