Opinion / Columnist
Mnangagwa regime is deceiving war veterans into a dangerous debt trap
4 hrs ago | Views
The "schemes" keep coming!
Yesterday, the Zimbabwean government unveiled yet another scheme ostensibly aimed at improving the livelihoods of veterans of the country's liberation struggle.
This time, small pieces of land - referred to as "stands" - are to be allocated to these men and women who bravely fought against colonial rule.
However, there is a catch.
According to Information Minister Jenfan Muswere, these stands will not be freely given as a form of genuine empowerment but will instead serve as collateral for securing loans.
If this interpretation is correct, then what is being presented as a benevolent initiative is, in reality, nothing more than a carefully disguised strategy to push war veterans into deeper financial distress.
Rather than empowering them, the government is setting them up for economic ruin, offering them land with one hand only to use it as leverage to trap them in debt with the other.
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This move comes barely a week after the same government launched the so-called "Presidential War Veterans Fund," a revolving loan facility allegedly meant to support these veterans.
With a total of only $1.5 million set aside for approximately 200,000 surviving war veterans, theoretically translates into an average of a paltry $7.50 per individual.
This fund, laughable in its inadequacy, stands in stark contrast to the staggering sums of money squandered by the ruling elite on luxuries and vanity projects.
To put this into perspective, the $1.5 million earmarked for war veterans is not even enough to construct a small section of the precast wall (durawall) being built around State House by Paulos Construction, a project initially estimated at an astonishing $15 million.
Ironically, the same Dr. Paul Tungwarara, whose company is behind this extravagant wall, is one of the key figures spearheading these so-called war veterans' empowerment schemes.
It is a cruel paradox that while those who actually fought for Zimbabwe's independence are being handed crumbs under the guise of empowerment, individuals whom Vice President Constantino Chiwenga once dismissed as "zvigananda", are amassing vast wealth through questionable state contracts and corrupt deals.
Those who sacrificed their youth and risked their lives in the liberation struggle have been reduced to desperate borrowers, expected to repay loans despite having no real means of income or sustainable economic opportunities.
The pattern is unmistakable.
Both the "stands" initiative and the revolving fund are rooted in debt.
War veterans are not receiving direct financial support, grants, or sustainable investment opportunities; instead, they are being encouraged - if not coerced - into borrowing money they have little chance of repaying.
Without any real economic empowerment, these loans will only lead to defaults, resulting in the eventual loss of the stands they were given as collateral.
The timing of this so-called land allocation scheme is highly suspicious.
Its introduction shortly after the war veterans' fund suggests that the Mnangagwa administration is well aware that these ex-combatants will struggle to repay their loans, even if offered at zero percent interest.
Once they default, the government will simply repossess the stands, leaving the veterans even poorer than before.
This is not empowerment - it is entrapment.
The government is merely deceiving these war heroes into thinking they are being supported when, in reality, they are being set up for financial ruin.
This is a calculated and heartless scheme designed to create the illusion of care while ensuring that these veterans remain vulnerable, desperate, and perpetually dependent on the ruling elite for survival.
It is painfully evident that war veterans have always been used as political pawns rather than being genuinely valued for their sacrifices.
During the liberation struggle, these men and women bore the brunt of the fighting on the ground while leaders such as Emmerson Mnangagwa, Robert Mugabe, and others lived in relative safety in Mozambique and Zambia.
After independence in 1980, these same veterans were cast aside as expendable, only to be conveniently remembered whenever the ruling establishment needed their support to consolidate power.
Now, as President Mnangagwa faces internal resistance to his suspected attempts to extend his tenure beyond the constitutional two-term limit, his administration is suddenly scrambling to appease disgruntled war veterans.
These hastily introduced "schemes" are nothing more than an attempt to buy their loyalty or, at the very least, silence their growing discontent.
However, even in its desperation, the government cannot bring itself to offer these war heroes real economic security.
Instead, it continues to subject them to the indignity of begging for scraps while a corrupt elite - including those who never set foot in a battlefield - hoard the country's wealth.
The absurdity of the situation is glaring.
How can a single individual, through dubious government contracts, bill the state $15 million for a wall while an entire generation of war veterans- who number around 200,000 - are expected to share a mere $1.5 million?
If the government truly valued these men and women, it would prioritize their well-being over extravagant expenditures on unnecessary infrastructure projects that serve only to enrich politically connected individuals.
There is no sincerity in these so-called empowerment initiatives.
If war veterans make the mistake of falling for these tricks once again, they will remain trapped in a cycle of dependency and exploitation.
Real empowerment means creating sustainable economic opportunities, not pushing them into debt they can never repay.
These veterans deserve better than to be reduced to mere tools, summoned only when politically convenient and discarded when no longer useful.
Zimbabwe's liberation struggle was fought to free the nation from colonial oppression, yet those who fought for that freedom have found themselves shackled by a different kind of subjugation - one orchestrated by the very government they helped bring to power.
The war veterans must recognize that they are being manipulated and demand genuine empowerment that allows them to be truly independent, self-reliant, and dignified.
It is time for these liberation war heroes to break free from the cycle of exploitation and assert their right to a meaningful stake in the country they fought to liberate.
They must refuse to be passive spectators in a nation that owes them so much yet continues to treat them with so little regard.
The dream of independence was never about exchanging one form of oppression for another.
True liberation can only be realized when those who sacrificed for Zimbabwe's freedom are finally given the respect, honor, and economic security they rightfully deserve.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Yesterday, the Zimbabwean government unveiled yet another scheme ostensibly aimed at improving the livelihoods of veterans of the country's liberation struggle.
This time, small pieces of land - referred to as "stands" - are to be allocated to these men and women who bravely fought against colonial rule.
However, there is a catch.
According to Information Minister Jenfan Muswere, these stands will not be freely given as a form of genuine empowerment but will instead serve as collateral for securing loans.
If this interpretation is correct, then what is being presented as a benevolent initiative is, in reality, nothing more than a carefully disguised strategy to push war veterans into deeper financial distress.
Rather than empowering them, the government is setting them up for economic ruin, offering them land with one hand only to use it as leverage to trap them in debt with the other.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
This move comes barely a week after the same government launched the so-called "Presidential War Veterans Fund," a revolving loan facility allegedly meant to support these veterans.
With a total of only $1.5 million set aside for approximately 200,000 surviving war veterans, theoretically translates into an average of a paltry $7.50 per individual.
This fund, laughable in its inadequacy, stands in stark contrast to the staggering sums of money squandered by the ruling elite on luxuries and vanity projects.
To put this into perspective, the $1.5 million earmarked for war veterans is not even enough to construct a small section of the precast wall (durawall) being built around State House by Paulos Construction, a project initially estimated at an astonishing $15 million.
Ironically, the same Dr. Paul Tungwarara, whose company is behind this extravagant wall, is one of the key figures spearheading these so-called war veterans' empowerment schemes.
It is a cruel paradox that while those who actually fought for Zimbabwe's independence are being handed crumbs under the guise of empowerment, individuals whom Vice President Constantino Chiwenga once dismissed as "zvigananda", are amassing vast wealth through questionable state contracts and corrupt deals.
Those who sacrificed their youth and risked their lives in the liberation struggle have been reduced to desperate borrowers, expected to repay loans despite having no real means of income or sustainable economic opportunities.
The pattern is unmistakable.
Both the "stands" initiative and the revolving fund are rooted in debt.
War veterans are not receiving direct financial support, grants, or sustainable investment opportunities; instead, they are being encouraged - if not coerced - into borrowing money they have little chance of repaying.
Without any real economic empowerment, these loans will only lead to defaults, resulting in the eventual loss of the stands they were given as collateral.
The timing of this so-called land allocation scheme is highly suspicious.
Its introduction shortly after the war veterans' fund suggests that the Mnangagwa administration is well aware that these ex-combatants will struggle to repay their loans, even if offered at zero percent interest.
Once they default, the government will simply repossess the stands, leaving the veterans even poorer than before.
This is not empowerment - it is entrapment.
This is a calculated and heartless scheme designed to create the illusion of care while ensuring that these veterans remain vulnerable, desperate, and perpetually dependent on the ruling elite for survival.
It is painfully evident that war veterans have always been used as political pawns rather than being genuinely valued for their sacrifices.
During the liberation struggle, these men and women bore the brunt of the fighting on the ground while leaders such as Emmerson Mnangagwa, Robert Mugabe, and others lived in relative safety in Mozambique and Zambia.
After independence in 1980, these same veterans were cast aside as expendable, only to be conveniently remembered whenever the ruling establishment needed their support to consolidate power.
Now, as President Mnangagwa faces internal resistance to his suspected attempts to extend his tenure beyond the constitutional two-term limit, his administration is suddenly scrambling to appease disgruntled war veterans.
These hastily introduced "schemes" are nothing more than an attempt to buy their loyalty or, at the very least, silence their growing discontent.
However, even in its desperation, the government cannot bring itself to offer these war heroes real economic security.
Instead, it continues to subject them to the indignity of begging for scraps while a corrupt elite - including those who never set foot in a battlefield - hoard the country's wealth.
The absurdity of the situation is glaring.
How can a single individual, through dubious government contracts, bill the state $15 million for a wall while an entire generation of war veterans- who number around 200,000 - are expected to share a mere $1.5 million?
If the government truly valued these men and women, it would prioritize their well-being over extravagant expenditures on unnecessary infrastructure projects that serve only to enrich politically connected individuals.
There is no sincerity in these so-called empowerment initiatives.
If war veterans make the mistake of falling for these tricks once again, they will remain trapped in a cycle of dependency and exploitation.
Real empowerment means creating sustainable economic opportunities, not pushing them into debt they can never repay.
These veterans deserve better than to be reduced to mere tools, summoned only when politically convenient and discarded when no longer useful.
Zimbabwe's liberation struggle was fought to free the nation from colonial oppression, yet those who fought for that freedom have found themselves shackled by a different kind of subjugation - one orchestrated by the very government they helped bring to power.
The war veterans must recognize that they are being manipulated and demand genuine empowerment that allows them to be truly independent, self-reliant, and dignified.
It is time for these liberation war heroes to break free from the cycle of exploitation and assert their right to a meaningful stake in the country they fought to liberate.
They must refuse to be passive spectators in a nation that owes them so much yet continues to treat them with so little regard.
The dream of independence was never about exchanging one form of oppression for another.
True liberation can only be realized when those who sacrificed for Zimbabwe's freedom are finally given the respect, honor, and economic security they rightfully deserve.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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