adminRichard Muponde Gwanda Correspondent
A WAR veterans’ leader in Matabeleland South has accused Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Cde Obedingwa Mguni of being a bogus war veteran who took advantage of a lapse in the voting system to secure the provincial chairmanship. Cde Eyer Moyo yesterday said Cde Mguni was not vetted to authenticate his war credentials. He said this a few days after Cde Mguni said Cde Moyo and his supporters were “nonentities and headless chickens” for announcing that they had fired him (Cde Mguni) from his provincial war veterans chairmanship.
Accompanied by provincial secretary for information and publicity, Cde Sipho Masuku, Cde Moyo visited The Chronicle office in Gwanda and said that on August 8 last year during voting for the provincial war veterans executive, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) officials did not ask for war veterans’ membership cards.
“That’s when Mguni slipped in and managed to contest the election. He garnered 29 and I got 25 votes. However, it was discovered that he was not a war veteran and had no membership card, leading to him getting disqualified,” said Cde Moyo.
He said Cde Mguni was never in the structures of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association and was therefore unfit to lead the association.
“He’s the one who is headless. He was out of the country from 1983 and only to come back in 2013 after 30 years. He suddenly says ‘I’m the leader of Matabeleland South war veterans’ when he was disqualified. He doesn’t qualify to be called a war veteran,” he said.
Cde Moyo said his executive was mandated by President Robert Mugabe to unite war veterans. “Mguni said he was elected in Masvingo? Why then is he at provincial level and not at the national executive. He sneaked in to steal the position. He’s a bogus war veteran,” said Cde Moyo.
“I urge genuine war veterans to support my executive so that we unite comrades and look into our welfare. They should support their patron President Mugabe who is also the Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces and the party Zanu-PF. The struggle continues.”
He said he applauded President Mugabe for appointing Cde Mguni to the position of Deputy Minister of Home Affairs because he is from the province but “he should concentrate on that job and leave us alone.”
Cde Moyo’s executive last month said it had deposed Cde Mguni.
However, last weekend, Cde Mguni went ballistic declaring that he was still at the helm and described his rivals as nonentities and headless chickens.
Efforts to get Cde Mguni’s comment were fruitless as he was not reachable on his mobile phone.
Online Reporter