Staff Reporter| Zimbabwe’s notorious war vets of the 70s liberation struggle, are it again, this time with fresh demands that the cash strapped government, provides them with their own bank and hospital.
Weekend publication, The Standard quotes, War Veterans Ministry secretary Mark Marongwe, who last week told Parliament that, “Women have their own bank, which was established for them, but if you look at the war heroes that fought in the liberation struggle they are not well funded in terms of self-help projects and there is need for financing to be availed so that there can be a war veterans bank where they can borrow money for self-help projects.”
He further said, “Even 39 years after independence our remaining liberation fighters are still suffering from different effects of the war and just like in other countries like the United States of America there is need for a specialised hospital to cater for our war veterans, and the hospital can raise money through charging fees to non-veteran clients.”
The demands by the veterans of the 70s liberation struggle, often leave a bad taste in the mouths of Zimbabweans, given their history in contributing to the drastic fall of the country’s economy, after they pressured the former President Robert Mugabe in 1997 to pay them each Z$500 000 in gratuities. The Zimbabwe dollar lost its value by 70 percent in one day.
Reports The Standard over the weekend, Marongwe’s suggestions were supported by the parliamentary committee whose report also recommended that the former fighters be given more land and be exempted from taxes.
The committee’s chairperson Levi Mayihlome from Zanu PF said the government should adopt a policy to ensure that once land has been allocated to war veterans, it must not be repossessed.
“The government should establish a war veterans bank which allows members to access loans at low interest rates,” he said.
“Beginning year 2020, government should also exempt war veterans from the following taxes; land, vehicles, industrial machinery, agricultural equipment levies, tollgates and parking fees.
“Widows and surviving children of war veterans must not be dispossessed of agricultural land.
“The Ministry of Defence and War Veterans should allow grass roots war veterans to elect their representatives to the board.
“The government should establish vocational training centres, which offer practical short courses in welding, plumbing, pig farming and poultry to be introduced at the beginning of year 2020.”
The committee report also said that war veterans were being ignored during government events.