admin
Felex Share Senior Reporter
Members of the Children of Zimbabwe War Veterans Association (COZWA), a group that has been attacking the Zanu-PF senior leadership on various social media platforms, have apologised to the party for their untoward behaviour.
This comes after President Mugabe two weeks ago lambasted the group for tarnishing Zanu-PF’s image, describing its members as “criminals”.
COZWA is led by one Munyaradzi Shoko.
The censure by President Mugabe came after the group generated a video which showed them beating up a member of an opposition party.
The video went viral on social media.
The COZWA members were moving around in a vehicle with images of First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe, in a bid to tarnish her name and that of the party.
Zanu-PF Youth League secretary Cde Kudzanayi Chipanga yesterday said members of the group had apologised.
He said the Youth League would only work with COZWA members after assessing their behaviour.
“To rein them in, the major step we took was to warn them and after realising that they were taking too long to repent, we then disassociated the Youth League from them,” Cde Chipanga said.
“We are happy to tell you that some of them have since even written some apologies, especially one Fiona Ricket. We are with her letter of apology in my office, apologising to the party. She has since regretted her actions and now pledged that she is now a reformed somebody who is prepared to work for the party.”
Cde Chipanga added: “The other one is Shoko. He has since written to us seeking pardon from the Youth League. He claims that they have been putting the name of the party into disrepute unknowingly. They thought they were doing their best to promote the party.”
Cde Chipanga said members of the group were not yet off the hook.
“As the Youth League, our main mission is not to subtract membership, but add,” he said. “Those who would have managed to show some signs of remorse we will take them back into the Youth League and start associating with them.
“At the same time, we will be emphasising the need to have discipline in the party, the need to stick by the principles of the party. We are going to deliberate on their apologies in our next national executive meeting.
“We will then take a position on whether or not to re-associate with them. We will also be assessing their social and political behaviour. This will guide us in terms of working with them.”
It is understood COZWA had the support of some senior party members to checkmate the Youth League which had refused to work with the group.
Although COZWA claims to represent the interests of the children of war veterans, it was recruiting young people across the country into its structures.
Online Reporter