Tungwarara fails to impress ex-combatants, event flops

President Emmerson Mnangagwa's advisor, Paul Tempter Tungwarara has suffered another embarrassment after failing to lure more war veterans in Harare this Tuesday, with his teams distributing regalia amongst members from ZANU-PF affiliates and parade them to fill vacant seats thereby portray them as genuine veterans of the liberation struggle.

Some war veterans had to snub the launch of their (war veterans) purse top-ups event under the banner of 'Presidential War Veterans Fund' citing an unprofessional screening process by the main entrance, starvation and nepotism in beneficiary selection.

"Hakuna muWar Vet anopfeka twuma jean twunobata netwuhembe twunobuditsa makuvhu panze kana twuzvikabudura twakangobvarukabvaruka. Ndivava vemamwe mapoka anotsigira musangano wedu vanosanganisira vanogadzira misoro, madzimai nevarume vechidiki, vakoti nevamwewo vanomiririra President kuti mabasa avo asashorwa paruzhinji (We have noted that several attendees were mainly drawn from other ZANU-PF affiliates and not necessarily from genuine war veterans. We have never had war veterans who wear bum shots, skinny jeans and crop-tops in Harare. Some ladies and gentlemen from Young Women for Economic Development, Hairdressers for Economic Development, Nurses for Economic Development, Widows for Economic Development, Men BelievED, Varakashi for Economic Development, among others)," one of the war veteran from Harare said.

"Hapana zvazvinobatsira kuswedzwa muzuva ndakamirira chiupfu nezvimafuta takarwa hondo handivhunduke cooking oil kana zvimari zvekubvutidzana zvisingachinje raramo kana magariro edu isu (It does now work for us to be waiting for long period of times waiting to receive a small donation consisting a 10 kg and 2 litre cooking oil or scrambling for little money. The donation should be meaningful and sufficient to transform our lives sustainably," the war ver added.

"Ah zvinoita kunge vanhu vari pajeri kana kutariswa nemuhasvato nemumbabvu kunge takataura zvombo. Kupinda mukati kwanga kuchirwadza kukunda kubudamo vamwe vatodzokerera pamukova (We were also subjected to indirect torture during the screening and security check process. It was more difficult to get into the room and some were turned away by their deliberate actions to frustrate some war veterans," the war veteran added.

The Presidential war veterans fund was initially scheduled to start in the morning, but attendees had to be addressed after around 14:05. Tungwarara is linked to a series of scandals ranging from extortion, bad debts, name-dropping, tenderpreneurship, among others.

Tungwarara recently received backlash for trying to buy war veterans silence through construction of matchbox-sized shacks in Manicaland. In Blanket, Tungwarara mainly donated high-tech smartphones to ZANU-PF information and digital social media commissars and activists under Varakashi4ED banner masqueraded as accredited journalists, with only two journalists from state-controlled media benefiting from the digital gadgets bribery scam.

One of the criminal charges pressed against Tungwarara include swindling an Indian investor, Razaa Jishan, amount totalling to US$2.3 million, a scam from which he allegedly sold a property he did not own and failed to deliver on promises, including work permits and licenses for Jishan's proposed business in Zimbabwe.

In another related case, Tungwarara has another pending police complaint by a man who claims he defrauded him of $300,000, a charge the complainant claims he (Tungwarara) used his political links to suppress police investigations.