Mnangagwa hails President

commemorations of the Heroes and Defence Forces Days today.
“During the war, we believed that we would punish Ian Smith for the atrocities he had committed and was committing against our people but as a result of the policy by the (then) Prime Minister Mugabe, that was abandoned and we are grateful for his vision which set the platform for development,” he said.
Minister Mnangagwa said the process of reconciliation was, however, not an easy one.
“The process was not an easy one because it was the first time that it had been done. It was, however, necessary for the country to be peaceful and that is why President Mugabe said let bygones be bygones,” he said.
He added that the policy had proved important in ensuring that the hatred and acrimony brought by the war was eliminated.
He said the Zimbabwe Defence Forces had its origins from the in-tegration that occurred and independence and said since then they had grown to be a professional force that has been invited to carry out numerous duties across the country.
Minister Mnangagwa said after the attainment of independence, Government also realised that the aims of the struggle had not been achieved.
“As we went on there was need to fulfil the aspirations of the war because as we were fighting the war, the principal grievance of our people was land.
“Of course, in 1980 we achieved political independence, that is one man one vote, universal suffrage but we had not taken the land, we were not in control of our resources,” he said.
The minister said it was because of that realisation that Government embarked on the land reform programme to ensure that future generations would have a solid platform for development.
“So we said if we do not do it us who suffered in the war and leave it to the future generations who might not have the same commitment and vision they might not do it so we went ahead,” he said.
He castigated former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for reneging on his country’s colonial obligation to fund land reforms in Zimbabwe.
The minister said Mr Blair and former US president George Bush had imposed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe because of that.
“Those two bad boys felt  they were on top of the world, that’s why the sanctions were brought on us,” he said.