Grace Mugabe supporter felled with 'flurry of punches'

Victor Matemadanda, the secretary general of the war veterans' association, is facing arrest after allegedly assaulting a fellow war veteran from Gokwe.

Matemadanda beat up Stephen Moyo whom he accused of supporting the First Lady Grace Mugabe and opposing the association's embattled leader, Christopher Mutsvangwa.

Both Matemadanda and Moyo confirmed the altercation which they said occurred on Friday at Sasame 1 Suburb in Gokwe town, at around 10PM.

Moyo reported the assault at Gokwe Police Station.

Matemadanda yesterday declined to discuss the cause of the fight.

"The police are still investigating the matter which happened in Gokwe on Friday. I was involved in some altercation with some people and so let the police complete their investigations before I comment," he said.

However, Moyo, 60, a former Gokwe Ward 32 councillor, said the war veterans secretary general manhandled him.

Moyo, who previously held positions in the war veterans' association in the province, said Matemadanda accused him of being used by the First Lady "for nothing" when supporting the leadership of Mutsvangwa was going to benefit him.

He said as war veterans in Gokwe, they were of the opinion that since Mutsvangwa had been suspended from the party and demoted from Cabinet, it was now necessary that a new executive is ushered in to work with the new War Veterans Minister, Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube.

Moyo said his views got to Matemadanda, who then started looking for him. He said Matemadanda accosted him as he was walking to some shops in the area.

"I was with some friends on our way to watch a soccer match when he saw me. He made a U-turn and stopped his car beside me. He asked why I was supporting the First Lady instead of him and his leader Mutsvangwa," said Moyo.

He claims Matemadanda said the First Lady was not going to assist them (war veterans) in any programmes.

"Matemadanda said we should support the leadership of Mutsvangwa instead of rallying behind the First Lady who is our mother. So I told him that he was dreaming to think that war veterans would support a leader who's gone rogue," Moyo told The Chronicle yesterday.

"I told him that President Mugabe was our patron as war veterans and insulting him and his wife was tantamount to insulting the intelligence of war veterans."

Moyo said Matemadanda came out of his vehicle and assaulted him.

"He charged at me and threatened to beat me up. I told him that it was proper for his leadership to keep quiet instead of going to the opposition press and giving unwarranted comments about our patron President Mugabe, his family and the Politburo," he said.

Moyo said Matemadanda felled him with a flurry of punches. He said he fought back until some people intervened. "I reported the matter at Gokwe Police Station and it's being handled by officers from the Law and Order section," he said.

Acting Midlands's police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende referred the Chronicle to the provincial community liaison officer for Law and Order Inspector Monalisa Mangena who could not be reached for comment.

The Zanu-PF Women's League has expressed dismay over the state of the war veterans association after Mutsvangwa and Matemadanda last Saturday invited Jabulani Sibanda – a former leader of the association who was expelled from Zanu-PF in 2014 – to address war veterans in Entumbane, Bulawayo.

Nomthandazo Eunice Moyo, the Women's League deputy secretary, said Mutsvangwa was leading war veterans astray.