President Robert Mugabe’s surprise rant against war veterans signals the end of the 91 year old leader’s vices.
Report by The Standard
Mugabe’s rant on war veterans shows that he only uses the former liberation war fighters to prolong his rule and will dump them when they no longer serve the purpose, opposition parties said last week.
Mugabe has since the turn of the millennium relied on war veterans to ward of any challenge from the opposition.
The war veterans have embarked on a series of violent campaigns to keep Zanu PF afloat, especially after the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which almost dislodged the ruling party in 2000 and 2008.
However, infighting in Zanu PF fuelled by disagreements over Mugabe’s succession has left war veterans at loggerheads with young leaders, including First Lady Grace Mugabe.
Grace used her rallies that preceded the Zanu PF annual conference held in Victoria Falls last weekend, to attack a group of war veterans she accused of causing trouble in the party.
The former fighters are linked to Vice-President Emmerson Mna- ngagwa who is keen to take over as president after Mugabe’s depature.
Mugabe used the Zanu PF conference to call the war veterans to order, saying the fact that they participated in the liberation war did not make them special.
The 91-year-old leader also had no kind words for the army, police and intelligence, saying they should stop meddling in Zanu PF affairs.
MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu said Mugabe’s attacks against war veterans did not come as a surprise as it had become clear that he was only interested in preserving his power.
“Robert Mugabe is just being true to his nature; as Machiavellian as he can be,” Gutu said.
“When it suits him, he will use the war veterans to pursue his goal of being a life president and when it doesn’t suit him, he will trash and trivialise the same war veterans.
“For Mugabe, political power defines his DNA. Everything else is secondary.”
The former Justice deputy minister said Mugabe had always feigned his love for the war veterans.
“Fundamentally and deep down his heart, he has never really liked and/or respected war veterans,” Gutu said.
“He has only been keen on using and abusing them when it is convenient for his political designs, particularly when he let the war veterans loose as he began his violent land reform programme in February 2000
“This is why you will find that the majority of genuine war veterans are living in abject poverty and squalor.
“Genuine war veterans are not respected by Mugabe. He is more comfortable surrounding himself with corrupt political opportunists and later day ‘revolutionaries’.”
Gutu’s sentiments were echoed by People’s Democratic Party (PDP) spokesperson Jacob Mafume, who said Mugabe had no respect for the former fighters.
“It would appear that the only war veteran Mugabe is comfortable with is the clown type, a yesman, uneducated with no ambition but a tool to use with no ideology,” he said.
Mafume said the president could also be trying to elbow out war veterans from the succession race.
“It would then suggest that he believes war veterans are not in his plans to succeed him,” he said.
“Mugabe himself is not a war veteran, but a nationalist.
“He probably does not understand why having been in the war should be a requirement to succeed him. He has another successor in mind who is not a war veteran,” Mafume said.
“War veterans must remember they humiliated Mugabe at the National Heroes Acre during [Chenjerai] Hunzvi’s time while demanding compensation.
“Mugabe does not forgive or forget and surely as the sun rises, he will get his revenge if it’s the last thing he will do”.
War veterans have publicly quarreled with Zanu PF commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, who is believed to be a key member of the Generation-40 that backs the First Lady.
The former fighters claimed Kasukuwere disrespects them and had demanded that Mugabe must remove him from the post in favour of a war veteran.
Their leader Christopher Mutsvangwa now faces expulsion from Zanu PF after Mashonaland West passed a vote of no confidence on him saying he had insulted the first family.
Mutsvangwa’s predecessor Jabulani Sibanda was fired last year after he accused Grace of engineering a bedroom coup after the First Lady had engineered the ouster of former Vice-President Joice Mujuru.
Mugabe’s love and hate relationship with war veterans began in 1997 when he succumbed to protests by the former fighters to pay them unbudgeted for pensions.
When his power came under threat in 2000, however, he unleashed war veterans to invade white-owned commercial farms after accusing their owners of sponsoring the opposition.
The former fighters eventually became a cog in Zanu PF’s election machinery as they intimidated people, especially in rural areas, into voting for Mugabe.
But the expulsion of Mujuru and several other Zanu PF stalwarts for allegedly plotting against Mugabe left the former fighters divided and diminished their influence in the ruling party.
8 Replies to “Mugabe Rant Against War Vets Signals THE END”
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ndizvo chaizvo. Haafaniri kumbochinja. Grace does not qualify.it was ma war vets who were used kudzinga ma farmers Mugabe uyu must be told warasha Gwara.
Just remember we are talking of a very cunning and manipulating tyrant here; the war vets have harassed, beaten and even murdered povo with Mugabe’s active encouragement because they were furthering his one-party state agenda. Power was to be the monopoly of those with liberation war credentials. Now he wants his wife to take over after him, he sings a different tune.
Mugabe is a tyrant and he should not be allowed to twist us round his little finger! He said no one without liberation war credentials can be president, he must not be allowed to change now!
Just remember we are talking of a very cunning and manipulating tyrant here; the war vets have harassed, beaten and even murdered povo with Mugabe’s active encouragement because they were furthering his one-party state agenda. Power was to be the monopoly of those with liberation war credentials. Now he wants his wife to take over after him, he sings a different tune.
Mugabe is a tyrant and he should not be allowed to twist us round his little finger! He said no one without liberation war credentials can be president, he must not be allowed to change now!
I think what Mugabe is a very good thing now. War veterans need to be taught that they did not fight the war alone but with help of the parents whom they persecuted and harassed. War veterans thought they have got the right to harass the citizens. Mugabe is sending a very big and excellent message to them that, they are not above everyone one or they did not fight the war alone. I can smell a wind of change. I think its high time for all of us to support a civilian state than a military one as we have witnessed it in the past years when the military was disbursed from every angle to intimidate and sometimes torched innocent civilians.
Mugabe should clean all these dirty people from the political scene. Akatanga nekuvaputsira zvimikuku zvavo which illegally acquired. Grace regai ataonge I think this will leave the army divided or principled in being apolitical as they wont have any recognition in ZANU PF. The opposition forces should also support Grace to be the VP/President and not Mnangwagwa. These so called war vet are very corrupt things. Joyce Mujuru people are sympathising with her but she looted a lot of wealthy and a lot of companies shut down and Joyce had a hand in that.
Pasi nema War veteran, Havana ku winner Hondo yacho futi it was through the ballot box. Vamwe vakatozosheedzwa kuti chidzokai kumusha hakuchina Hondo when they wer in exile but vabereki Havana kutiza misha.,
Where is this going? I would think the people in the right place, to effect change must act. Without encouraging a military coup, but unfortunately they are the only organ with the tools to effectively stop this nonsense. Ghana is a good example after Rawlins? We might need something like that in our beloved zimbabwe. The old man has lost his marbles, and seems to against anything that has the struggle in its past. I am sure there are many who are worried about how things are going. Come on chewenga, shirt. You already targets. Do something and save the country.
Where is this going? I would think the people in the right place, to effect change must act. Without encouraging a military coup, but unfortunately they are the only organ with the tools to effectively stop this nonsense. Ghana is a good example after Rawlins? We might need something like that in our beloved zimbabwe. The old man has lost his marbles, and seems to against anything that has the struggle in its past. I am sure there are many who are worried about how things are going. Come on chewenga, shirt. You already targets. Do something and save the country.
Many of the war vets accept Mugabe’s bribe to work for him on his one-party dictatorship project in retain for getting a share of looted wealth sadly many of them got very little!
Many of the war vets accept Mugabe’s bribe to work for him on his one-party dictatorship project in retain for getting a share of looted wealth sadly many of them got very little!