Opinion / Columnist
Economic welfare to top Mugabe, war vets indaba
07 Apr 2016 at 06:38hrs | Views
ZIMBABWE's veterans of the national armed liberation struggle are scheduled to meet their patron, President Robert Gabriel Mugabe today at a Harare venue.
Three obvious important issues are likely to feature during the historic indaba initially requested by the war veterans and later spearheaded by the patron himself.
The three issues are most likely to be the war veterans' socio – economic welfare, the country's socio – economic condition, and the general political situation with factionalism within the ruling party, Zanu-PF, as a major development.
The socio–economic welfare of the former freedom fighters is a recurring matter, having emerged most prominently in 1997 and the government eventually decided to pay each war veteran a lump sum of Z$50, 000.
They were granted other benefits, including free medical services at government medical clinics and hospitals, and government – financed education for themselves and their dependents.
In addition to these services, each war veteran receives a monthly government pension averaging US$200.
In spite of those benefits, many war veterans find it extremely difficult to make ends meet, and are doing self-created menial jobs to enable them to live from hand-to-mouth.
A large number are in the diaspora where socio-economic conditions are relatively comfortable.
It is possible or rather, most likely, that war veterans will suggest that they should each be given a piece of land to enable them to live from the soil.
In addition to that, it would help if the government created a land bank from which each war veteran could borrow to develop their land.
Consideration could also be given to exempt war veterans from paying unit tax as that would be in keeping with the national policy that granted them free medical and educational services.
It would also be in the same policy spirit if war vets were granted free transport services on government – owned means of transport such as the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).
We should bear in mind that some public servants, such as members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), travel free of charge on NRZ trains. War veterans would be justified to ask for that free transport service as well.
We now turn to the government recognition of the role played by war veterans in the liberation of the country whenever there are national occasions such as Independence Day and Heroes' Day celebrations.
That recognition is expressed in official speeches but not through practical events such as military drills and simulated guerilla operations by those who are still physically able to perform them or by groups specially trained by former guerillas to perform at those national occasions.
While it is appropriate to feature chikokonya and other dancing groups at such national occasions, it would be much better to give the leading role to war veterans.
We should actually see and hear those who took part in the armed struggle performing in front of the nation on such important occasions.
Some of them are still alive, and it would be a source of much joy and pleasure to see and hear them perform.
The writer of this article has in mind people such as Stanley Nkundlane Nleya (nom de guerre "Doko" Gagisa),
Dauramzani and many more. That type of recognition could be in effect, liberation war history relived.
Zimbabwe's poor socio-economic condition is impacting negatively on war veterans just as it does on everyone else.
That condition is caused by various factors whose origins are in three environments: uncontrollable natural variables such as drought; hostile external politico-ideological measures such as sanctions by some Western governments, and some economic policies by the country's type of governance.
The best and only step to counter an extraneous variable such as drought is to take mitigatory measures such as irrigation by means of underground water.
Much has been written and said about this by a number of highly knowledgeable people that it is really unnecessary to repeat those ideas in this column.
All one can say here is that war veterans should call for the establishment of irrigation and other drought mitigating schemes in their respective wards.
They should also actively support the creation of social, transport and communication infrastructure in their respective areas to make urban markets for their rural agricultural products accessible.
Fiscal-economic sanctions are applied by western governments against a state usually for ideological, security or perceived human rights violations. Those against Zimbabwe followed the 2000 acquisition of some commercial farms by the government.
When looking at this matter, war veterans would be well advised to bear in mind that we went to war against the white minority settler regime because we wanted to restore our land to ourselves: ilizwe ngelethu! nyika ndeyedu!
The imposition of whatever sanctions on the Zimbabwe state and on some of the national leaders should not have surprised anyone who is conversant with the ideological sympathies of the capitalistic world. We need not get into an analysis of this at all.
What needs to be done is to look into ways and means of making the repossessed land maximally productive. Zimbabwe's national economy is agriculturally – based.
To invigorate it, the agricultural sector must be given a large financial injection.
The government can much more easily achieve this by implementing Chapter 14 of the constitution which is about decentralisation.
That means transferring or delegating legal and political power to make decisions, to plan, to implement and to manage public functions from the central government and its units to regional development authorities, corporations, autonomous local government bodies and similarly empowered organisations based among the wards, districts and or provinces.
That kind of governance is much more efficient as it is more accountable to the people, the grassroots, than a central government.
National economic and human resources development is better carried out by a decentralised administration than by a centralised system.
A decentralised type of governance is more democratic than a centralised national administration in that its decisions are taken by the grassroots rather than an elitist leadership, and national development resources are much more equitably distributed by a decentralised governance than a centralised one.
It is more people based and people oriented, and is thus democracy at its best.
Factionalism in Zanu – PF is caused by scheming by some of the party's senior officials who would like to be in a strategic position to succeed President Mugabe.
It is all about leadership aspirations. Zanu-PF war veterans in their capacity as Zanu-PF members can and should help solve the dispute.
Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu is a retired, Bulawayo – based journalist. He can be contacted on cell 0773 428 443 or through email. sgwakuba@gmail.com
Three obvious important issues are likely to feature during the historic indaba initially requested by the war veterans and later spearheaded by the patron himself.
The three issues are most likely to be the war veterans' socio – economic welfare, the country's socio – economic condition, and the general political situation with factionalism within the ruling party, Zanu-PF, as a major development.
The socio–economic welfare of the former freedom fighters is a recurring matter, having emerged most prominently in 1997 and the government eventually decided to pay each war veteran a lump sum of Z$50, 000.
They were granted other benefits, including free medical services at government medical clinics and hospitals, and government – financed education for themselves and their dependents.
In addition to these services, each war veteran receives a monthly government pension averaging US$200.
In spite of those benefits, many war veterans find it extremely difficult to make ends meet, and are doing self-created menial jobs to enable them to live from hand-to-mouth.
A large number are in the diaspora where socio-economic conditions are relatively comfortable.
It is possible or rather, most likely, that war veterans will suggest that they should each be given a piece of land to enable them to live from the soil.
In addition to that, it would help if the government created a land bank from which each war veteran could borrow to develop their land.
Consideration could also be given to exempt war veterans from paying unit tax as that would be in keeping with the national policy that granted them free medical and educational services.
It would also be in the same policy spirit if war vets were granted free transport services on government – owned means of transport such as the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).
We should bear in mind that some public servants, such as members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), travel free of charge on NRZ trains. War veterans would be justified to ask for that free transport service as well.
We now turn to the government recognition of the role played by war veterans in the liberation of the country whenever there are national occasions such as Independence Day and Heroes' Day celebrations.
That recognition is expressed in official speeches but not through practical events such as military drills and simulated guerilla operations by those who are still physically able to perform them or by groups specially trained by former guerillas to perform at those national occasions.
While it is appropriate to feature chikokonya and other dancing groups at such national occasions, it would be much better to give the leading role to war veterans.
We should actually see and hear those who took part in the armed struggle performing in front of the nation on such important occasions.
Some of them are still alive, and it would be a source of much joy and pleasure to see and hear them perform.
The writer of this article has in mind people such as Stanley Nkundlane Nleya (nom de guerre "Doko" Gagisa),
Dauramzani and many more. That type of recognition could be in effect, liberation war history relived.
Zimbabwe's poor socio-economic condition is impacting negatively on war veterans just as it does on everyone else.
That condition is caused by various factors whose origins are in three environments: uncontrollable natural variables such as drought; hostile external politico-ideological measures such as sanctions by some Western governments, and some economic policies by the country's type of governance.
The best and only step to counter an extraneous variable such as drought is to take mitigatory measures such as irrigation by means of underground water.
Much has been written and said about this by a number of highly knowledgeable people that it is really unnecessary to repeat those ideas in this column.
All one can say here is that war veterans should call for the establishment of irrigation and other drought mitigating schemes in their respective wards.
They should also actively support the creation of social, transport and communication infrastructure in their respective areas to make urban markets for their rural agricultural products accessible.
Fiscal-economic sanctions are applied by western governments against a state usually for ideological, security or perceived human rights violations. Those against Zimbabwe followed the 2000 acquisition of some commercial farms by the government.
When looking at this matter, war veterans would be well advised to bear in mind that we went to war against the white minority settler regime because we wanted to restore our land to ourselves: ilizwe ngelethu! nyika ndeyedu!
The imposition of whatever sanctions on the Zimbabwe state and on some of the national leaders should not have surprised anyone who is conversant with the ideological sympathies of the capitalistic world. We need not get into an analysis of this at all.
What needs to be done is to look into ways and means of making the repossessed land maximally productive. Zimbabwe's national economy is agriculturally – based.
To invigorate it, the agricultural sector must be given a large financial injection.
The government can much more easily achieve this by implementing Chapter 14 of the constitution which is about decentralisation.
That means transferring or delegating legal and political power to make decisions, to plan, to implement and to manage public functions from the central government and its units to regional development authorities, corporations, autonomous local government bodies and similarly empowered organisations based among the wards, districts and or provinces.
That kind of governance is much more efficient as it is more accountable to the people, the grassroots, than a central government.
National economic and human resources development is better carried out by a decentralised administration than by a centralised system.
A decentralised type of governance is more democratic than a centralised national administration in that its decisions are taken by the grassroots rather than an elitist leadership, and national development resources are much more equitably distributed by a decentralised governance than a centralised one.
It is more people based and people oriented, and is thus democracy at its best.
Factionalism in Zanu – PF is caused by scheming by some of the party's senior officials who would like to be in a strategic position to succeed President Mugabe.
It is all about leadership aspirations. Zanu-PF war veterans in their capacity as Zanu-PF members can and should help solve the dispute.
Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu is a retired, Bulawayo – based journalist. He can be contacted on cell 0773 428 443 or through email. sgwakuba@gmail.com
Source - chronicle
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