adminCletus Mushanawani in Harare
A TOTAL of 643 liberation war veterans from Manicaland joined their colleagues for a crunch meeting with their patron, President Mugabe at City Sports Centre in Harare yesterday.
The venue was a hive of activity on Wednesday afternoon with the veterans of the struggle having been divided in five thematic committees, which include welfare, empowerment, party ideology, party threats and liberation heritage. In an interview, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association Manicaland provincial chairman, Cde Gift Kagweda, said the meeting was crucial as it would help address the plight of the war veterans.
“This meeting was long overdue because some of our members are wallowing in abject poverty. From Manicaland, a total of 643 war veterans were successfully accredited. They were drawn from all the eight Zanu-PF districts in Manicaland. As the chairman, I was pleased by the number of war veterans who came from Manicaland.
“Our vetting was strict because we wanted only genuine war veterans. Yes, I was told that some were turned away, but I cannot say much on that because I was not part of the vetting teams,” he said.
Cde Kagwada said other members who were accredited for the meeting include the national executive committee that was elected in Masvingo, provincial executive members, districts executive members, members of the high command, members of the general staff, field commanders, senior Zanu-PF officials, those deployed as champion farmers, members of the security sectors.
“We are generally not happy with the way war veterans are being treated everywhere they come from. We are also concerned with the state of the party and I am sure that we will be having a different thinking from this meeting,” he said.
While Harare City Sports Centre was a hive of activity, other war veterans were jam packed at IT Centre along Robert Mugabe Avenue where accreditation was taking place. Long winding queues were the order of the day and it would take more than four hours for one to go through the whole accreditation process.
Police were in full force to maintain peace and order.
Online Reporter