By A Correspondent- After exerting pressure on the authorities through protests demanding an increase in their pension allowances, veterans of the armed liberation struggle got a big Christmas gift courtesy of the minister of Finance who allocated a whopping ZW$61.5 billion to the ministry of Defence and War Veterans Welfare in the 2022 National Budget.

A month ago, 39 war veterans spent four days in detention after being arrested by police in central Harare. They were charged with participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence.

This came after they mounted a protest intending to deliver a petition to Parliament, as well as President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office at Munhumutapa Building. In his 2022 budget remarks, Finance minister Ncube emphasised the importance of capacitating security organs of the state to enable them to effectively execute their mandate.

“Madam Speaker ma’am, the prevailing peace and security is important for sustainable economic development and must be preserved at all cost. Government will continue to capacitate the Security Organs of the State to ensure that our security services are fully funded to enable them to effectively execute their mandate of reducing crime in order to create a conducive environment for development. An amount of ZWL$49.4 billion is being allocated to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage and ZWL$61.5 billion for the Ministry of Defence and War Veterans Welfare,” he said.

The ministry of Defence and War Veterans Welfare received the third-largest budget allocation after the ministry of Health which got ZW$117.7 billion and Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Development which got ZW$124 billion.