‘Zim in good hands’

Conrad Mupesa Mash West Correspondent
Widows of liberation war heroes believe their future is in good hands as long as President Mnangagwa remains in power.

Since his ascendancy to power, President Mnangagwa has repaired the relationship between central Government and members of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association.

The relationship between veterans of the liberation struggle and former president Robert Mugabe had soured over the years.

Some have argued that former First Lady Mrs Grace Mugabe also contributed immensely to the bad relationship between Mr Mugabe and his wartime colleagues.

President Mnangagwa engaged with the war veterans a few months into the new dispensation, ushered in by the intervention of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

Surviving spouses of the departed war veterans have since found President Mnangagwa forthcoming and very helpful.

Speaking in separate interviews during the commemorations of the Heroes Day on Monday this week at the Chinhoyi Provincial Heroes’ Acres, the widows said the previous regime had abandoned them.

“Although Government is giving us my late husband’s pension, I feel I should also be getting mine as the spouse of the late liberation hero,” Cde Josephine Madhaka said.

Mrs Madhaka is widow to the late Cde Jameson Madhaka, who was known by his liberation struggle name Cde Anderson Mhuru.

Cde Mhuru was buried at the provincial shrine in 1992.

“We hope the President and the new Government will see to it that we retain our lost benefits as we deserve to be treated fairly,” she said.

Cde Clara Chipango accused Mr Mugabe’s regime of suddenly abandoning them and their families.

“We want President Mnangagwa to consider reinstating some benefits we enjoyed which were abolished by the Mugabe regime,” she said.

“Although we benefited in the land reform, we are failing to access farming equipment like tractors and benefiting in the Command Agriculture programme has become a challenge for some of us.”

Most surviving spouses of the late war veterans, though they have farms, most of which were from the land reform programme, have been side-lined in other Government programmes.

Ambuya Clara Chipango, a war collaborator, who was married to provincial war hero Cde Don Chipango, said Government should also consider them for the programmes.

Cde Chipango died in 2010 and was buried at the provincial shrine.