Genuine war vets demand end to violence

A senior executive member of the Zimbabwe Liberators Platform, Wilfred Mhanda, whose nom de guerre was Dzinashe Machingura, said bonafide  former freedom fighters could no longer stand idle while Zimbabwe’s achievements were being sacrificed “by unscrupulous opportunists and careerists” for selfish gains.

“The events (violence and killing of MDC supporters) of the past one and half months in Zimbabwe have done incalculable harm to the country in terms of business losses, investment opportunities, and the image of the country abroad,” he told The Zimbabwean. “If we cannot stop it now, it will take us many years to repair the damage.”

Machingura and five others — Webster Gwauya, Parker Chikowere, Abel Sibanda, Kennedy Taitezvi and Modern Mutsetse — formed the first executive committee of the ZLP eight years ago, which is opposed to the activities of self-styled  veterans unleashing an orgy of violence in the countryside.

The self-styled war veterans have spearheaded a campaign to invade and demarcate the remaining 300 commercial farms as well as intimidate MDC supporters, under instructions from 200 terror troops deployed from the army.

At least 32 people, mainly MDC supporters, have been killed since the March 29 general poll, with the approval of Robert Mugabe, under a reign of terror that has internally displaced thousands, according to the MDC and humanitarian agencies.

Zimbabwean doctors treating victims of violence and torture said in a report weekend that the number of those injured has skyrocketed to more than 900 since the controversial poll, with 22 confirmed deaths.

“This figure grossly underestimates the number of victims countrywide as the violence is now on such a scale that it is impossible to properly document all cases,” the human rights doctors said.

The leaders of ZLP are among the architects and signatories of the 1976 Mgagao Declaration, which spearheaded the resumption of the liberation struggle.

Some of them such as Machingura were in the high command of the Zimbabwe People’s Army then led by the late Joshua Nkomo.

“The level of violence in the country is totally unacceptable,” he said. “We strongly believe that if there was commitment and goodwill on the part of the executive, this violence could be checked because the police have enough resources to handle this violence,” Machingura said.

He said it was unfair to blame the lawlessness on all war veterans because only a few of them were involved and these were being manipulated by Zanu (PF) in exchange for material gains.

“True war veterans are not involved in this. It is only a vocal few that are being manipulated by politicians and mainly political hooligans who are involved,” he said.

His organisation would soon convene a national consultative conference to discuss how best to end the lawlessness and improve Zimbabwe’s tarnished image.