The war veterans, who include ex-Zanla commander, Parker Chipoyera, former top intelligence operative Retired Colonel Bastan Beta, Levy Gwarada and Ngoni Chitauro, among others, said their move was a follow up to the mandate they bestowed on Mugabe during the liberation war.
The war veterans, however, denied they were linked to Mujuru’s opposition Zimbabwe People First.
“We, the war veterans who agreed to the authorship of the Mgagao document and appended our signatures to it, now withdraw the mandate we gave to Robert Mugabe to be the leader,” Chipoyera told journalists in Harare.
The group accused Mugabe of running down the economy and playing the tribal card to retain power, hence the decision to withdraw their support.
They accused Mugabe of seeking to use them by only engaging liberation fighters during crises and discarding them in better times.
“To our fellow comrades, we take this opportunity to remind you that Mugabe no longer represents your interests,” Chipoyera said, at the same time urging Zimbabweans to resist Mugabe’s “tyranny” while demanding true democracy.
“Zimbabwe, once the jewel and breadbasket of Africa, is now a failed State and a laughing stock, even among the poorest of nations. Its people are now deeply divided along political, ethnic and tribal lines and the economy is in doldrums.”
He described the over 10 000 war veterans who met Mugabe in Harare last week as “fake liberation fighters” after they made “ridiculous demands” and portrayed themselves as “more special than the majority of Zimbabweans”.
The group claimed they deliberately avoided gate-crashing last week’s meeting, alleging there were security details deployed to attack them.
Contacted for comment, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association spokesperson, Douglas Mahiya said: “If they have withdrawn, it’s them who have withdrawn. I don’t know them and I cannot comment on that. I don’t know what they are up to and I cannot comment.”
Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo also disowned the group.
“The President was voted by the people in 2013 and that is the only mandate he has until 2018. I don’t understand the import of their statement. What positions do they have because we cannot just listen to anybody? The war veterans have their own leadership and together with their ministry and secretary for defence in the politburo are the ones who met the President. Those ones I don’t know and who cares,” he said. newsday
3 Replies to “Mugabe Too Ill for Presidency-War Vets”
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The reason why President Mugabe has managed to rig Zanu PF elections and national elections to stay in power for all these years is that the people of Zimbabwe, notably many of the war vets, have never really understood what freedom and human rights are all about. Whilst no level minded Zimbabwean would disagree with Chipoyera that President Mugabe is a “tyrant”; the real surprise is that people like Chipoyera have only just noticed this now!
The minute some of these war vet mention Mujuru and condemn how President Mugabe has dismissed her; many Zimbabweans lose interest immediately because it is clear the individuals are not really interested in freedom, justice and human right but are only using these as cover to advance their selfish factional agenda. President Mugabe has done a lot worse things than denounce Mujuru and rig Zanu PF elections and for anyone to sweep rigging national elections and murdering over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans to establish this Zanu PF dictatorship is an insult to the nation!
The nation is rightly wary of war vets who are only now pretending to care about people’s freedom and human rights as a way of getting back at their opponents in Zanu PF’s factional wars. The people do not want to find themselves being asked to fight a tyrannical system only to be dumped as soon as the tyrant is defeated as happen in the fight to end white colonial oppression.
Any war vet who was used by President Mugabe to deny the people their freedoms and rights must confess their betrayal and apologize to the nation. It is about time war vets stood up for the dismantling of the Zanu PF dictatorship and support the demand for the implementation of the far reaching democratic reforms as the only basis for building a free, just and democratic Zimbabwe.
The reason why President Mugabe has managed to rig Zanu PF elections and national elections to stay in power for all these years is that the people of Zimbabwe, notably many of the war vets, have never really understood what freedom and human rights are all about. Whilst no level minded Zimbabwean would disagree with Chipoyera that President Mugabe is a “tyrant”; the real surprise is that people like Chipoyera have only just noticed this now!
The minute some of these war vet mention Mujuru and condemn how President Mugabe has dismissed her; many Zimbabweans lose interest immediately because it is clear the individuals are not really interested in freedom, justice and human right but are only using these as cover to advance their selfish factional agenda. President Mugabe has done a lot worse things than denounce Mujuru and rig Zanu PF elections and for anyone to sweep rigging national elections and murdering over 30 000 innocent Zimbabweans to establish this Zanu PF dictatorship is an insult to the nation!
The nation is rightly wary of war vets who are only now pretending to care about people’s freedom and human rights as a way of getting back at their opponents in Zanu PF’s factional wars. The people do not want to find themselves being asked to fight a tyrannical system only to be dumped as soon as the tyrant is defeated as happen in the fight to end white colonial oppression.
Any war vet who was used by President Mugabe to deny the people their freedoms and rights must confess their betrayal and apologize to the nation. It is about time war vets stood up for the dismantling of the Zanu PF dictatorship and support the demand for the implementation of the far reaching democratic reforms as the only basis for building a free, just and democratic Zimbabwe.
Mugabe created fake war vets in 1980 when he asked non combatants to go into assembly points. The real combatants were asked to remain outside telling them the assembly points was a plan by the British to disarm them. We know the real reason was they were to be used to intimidate the population into voting for ZANU PF. Look at the fake vets he has used ever since chenjerai hunzvi, jubulani sibanda , chinotimba and now mboko