President Mnangagwa made the pledge to return the
properties in 2019 after meeting ex-ZIPRA cadres at State House in Bulawayo and
assigned then Vice President Kembo Mohadi to lead the process.
Apart from returning the properties, President Mnangagwa
has also opened up discussions on the issue of disturbances in the Matabeleland
and Midlands regions as part of the national healing process.
The former Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army fighters
contributed their demobilisation pay-outs and purchased various properties
across the country.
Some of the properties were seized by the Government after
some disturbances in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands in the early 1980s.
The former ZIPRA combatants met over the weekend during a
meeting convened by Cde Tshinga Dube where he said the issue had to be brought
to finality.
Addressing ex-ZIPRA cadres at McDonald Hall in Mzilikazi
high density suburb, former ZIPRA commander and ZANU PF Politburo member Cde
Tshinga Dube said the new dispensation was willing to address the matter which
has been dragging for over 40 years.
“Most comrades who approached the President were told that
Government was willing to hand over properties provided that we go through the
Zanu PF vice president (Kembo) Mohadi.
“Recently the (Zanu PF) vice president Mohadi called me to
his office and gave me an order that we form a committee that would be able to
come up with a register of all ZIPRA properties which will be sent to him,” he
said.
Dube told the ZIPRA veterans that he was an emissary of
President Mnangagwa and was sent to explain Government position on returning of
seized properties and also to form a committee that would assist in identifying
and listing the properties.
“We are gathered here, not to discuss politics, but
business. Why business? You are all aware that we could not discuss this
subject for 40 years. We do so today under the new dispensation, which has
opened the room for tolerance and to exercise the freedom that we fought for,”
he said.
“We are all aware that the background to the
properties came about due to the
teething problems that out country went through in the infant stages of our
freedom in 1980 to 1987.
He said the administration of former President Robert
Mugabe promised to return the
properties, but nothing materialised.
“The late Cde Msika announced to us that there was an
agreement reached to return the properties, but nothing happened. This was
followed by the death of Cde Msika, then
came VP John Nkomo who also promised us that our properties will be returned,
likewise nothing happened,” said Dube, adding a number of groups pursued the
case without any clear outcomes.
“Recently, after the new dispensation, His Excellency the
President, came with a new policy that all outstanding problems from the first
government must be transparently solved, thus, even the sensitive Gukurahundi
issue,” he said.
Cde Dube applauded President Mnangagwa for solving the
problem of comrades who were dismissed
from the Zimbabwe National Army in 1983.
“Now their problem has been solved after almost 40 years
and I hear they will be compensated for 40 years salaries and also registered
onto pension fund.
Cde Dube told the cadres not to mix ZAPU properties with
ZIPRA, saying Zapu properties were integrated with Zanu to form ZANU PF.
He said when these properties were returned, a board of
directors would be formed, which would discuss the distribution modalities to
cater for all shareholders. Those who have passed on would be represented by
their widows or children, he explained.
Cde Angeline Masuku who also attended the meeting also
thanked the President for his stance to resolve the issue.
“This meeting is critical in the history of ZIPRA forces as
it has shown that President Mnangagwa is different and he is willing to engage
everyone who had issues with the First Republic.
“Comrades came in their numbers and it shows that they are
happy with what is going to happen. This was a thorny issue for more than 40
years,” she noted.
Some of the properties that the ZIPRA cadres seek to
reclaim include Magnet House in Bulawayo, Kudu Motors, Hampton Farm, Ascot
Farm, Nest Egg Farm, Woodyglen Farm, Mbalabala Garage, Nyamandlovu Farm and
Snake Park among others. – New Ziana/Herald Reporter.
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