WAR veterans have demanded that government creates their
own ministry separate from the war collaborators and ex-political detainees,
indicating that there should be a difference between freedom fighters and those
who were assisting them during the war.
The mujibhas and chimbwindos (war collaborators) on Friday,
however, told Parliament that the liberation war would not have been won
without them and demanded equal treatment and compensation, saying that their
plight had been ignored for too
long.
Outspoken ex-officio member of the war veterans association,
Andrew Ndlovu, told NewsDay on Friday on the sidelines of Veterans of the
Liberation Struggle 2019 Bill hearings in Bulawayo that the war collaborators
and ex-political detainees do not have military training, hence they could not
be called freedom fighters.
“We are military persons, while those are civilians who are
(late former President Robert) Mugabe’s creation to combine us so that he could
gain political mileage,” Ndlovu said.
“Some of these people (war collaborators) were too young
during the liberation struggle and were herding cattle. They were not exposed
to the risk that we were subjected to. We fought a guerrilla warfare against
the National Treaty Organisations (NATO). This was a tough assignment and we
did this just for the love of our country, not for money.
“We want that guerilla warfare structure to be maintained
with its commanders and be treated as a special constituency.”
He said political detainees were in the country advocating
for freedom, but were never in the forefront during the liberation struggle.
Dry Katsande, a representative from the Mujibha Chimbwindo
Association during public hearings at Stoddard Hall in Mbare, Harare, said they
were never given a chance to attain education, but the war veterans that did
attain education were now mocking them and labelling them illiterate.
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home
Affairs chairperson Levi Mayihlome said the Bill would, among other issues,
eliminate any form of discrimination to military exposure, recommend four
categories of liberation war fighters under Zanla and Zipra, non-combatant
cadres, war collaborators, and ex-political prisoners and detainees.
“We demand that the Bill should stipulate equal treatment
to mujibhas and chimbwindos because without us, the liberation war fighters
would not have survived and we played a very important role to support them by
carrying food, ammunition, clothes, spying and supplying information to them,”
Katsande said.
“During the war, wherever there were bombings of the
liberation war fighter, we mujibhas and chimbwindos were also bombed and we
suffered in the same manner as the liberation war fighters.”
He demanded paid education for their children, farms, as
well as positions to head companies.
“All war veterans must be exempted from paying tollgate
fees and other taxes. The term ‘war collaborators’ is also vague and we want it
changed in the Bill to ‘liberation war collaborators,” Katsande said.
But war veterans felt that when it comes to compensation,
the Bill must state seniority of the different war veteran’s groupings.
Hoyini Bhila, the Harare province chairperson of the War
Veterans Association, criticised lack of mentioning of seniority of war
veterans in the Bill.
“Seniority must be based on one’s contributions during the
liberation struggle and their sacrifices. It is our view that the degree of
sacrifice by those who held arms and fought in the liberation war supersedes
that of other groups,” he said.
Bhila also said there must be a 20% quota reserved for war
veterans in all institutions, including seats in Parliament.
The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Cadres Association
said the Bill recognises veterans who fought in Mozambique and Zambia and
ignores those who fought from Botswana.
Different war veterans criticised lack of implementation of
Statutory Instrument 194/205, which stipulated that all categories that
participated in the war must be compensated. Newsday
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