Following the emergency meeting ZAPU’s President Dabengwa had last month with war veterans in Bulawayo, a lot of introspection and consultations have culminated in the formation of the ZIPRA Veterans Association in Bulawayo on 20 March 2016.
The Association is a combined embodiment of all the different categories of freedom fighters such as ex detainees and restrictees, ex recruitees, ex combatants and technocrats who were trained by ZAPU during the liberation war time.
An executive was elected on an interim basis and its led by Cde Ben Ncube. This committee’s main mandate is to set up the association structures in provinces and districts in preparation for its inaugural congress, where substantive executive will be elected.
The patron of the association is ZAPU President Dr Dumiso Dabengwa, and the association will function and work in close association with the mother party.
The ZPRAVA yesterday resolved to take care of the welfare of the ex fighters and their families, especially children of school going ages who have often been neglected by the current regime. For months now the current government has failed to pay out school fees monies owed to children of former freedom fighters.
The association has also undertaken the task of identifying all those who lost their children and loved ones in combat during the struggle so as to work towards having them compensated in some way by the state.
Welfare issues of ex liberation fighters in their different categories will top the agenda of the ZPRAVA as ZAPU works at closing the ever widening gap between society and the ex freedom fighters in terms of social services and the economic activities at large. It was noted that such gaps exist as a deliberate ploy by the current government under Mugabe to always have the war veterans compromised so that they are easily used as pawns in filthy political power games as is currently happening in the fractious governing party.
ZPRAVA announced that its emergence is sure to put a stop in the long suffering ex ZPRA fighters have had to deal with three and a half decades into independence. They suffered problems that ranged from marginalisation, neglect and persecution through Gukurahundi under a so called black majority givernment.
Their problems, if not addressed properly and expeditiously are sure to be transfered to the next generation through their children whose welfare has been deliberately neglected in order to have that section of our society cowed to perform certain roles for Mugabe’s party.