The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) has lashed out at the United States of America over what it termed as its Big Brother mentality. The war veterans said that they will not be dictated to and spoke out against the US’s alleged interference in Zimbabwe’s affair by extending sanctions through the Zidera Act. Addressing the media, ZNLWVA secretary general Victor Matemadanda said,
The big brother mentality of America is what we don’t want. Our President has opened every democratic space, he has tried to engage. But America by extending ZIDERA they are slapping us in the face.
Post-election violence was an aggression done by the opposition. In South Africa, at Marikana, people were killed but there were no sanctions. If America is going to behave like this, we are going to tell our government to forget about engaging America… we are no longer slaves of Americans. For anyone, Trump included, to think we are patient slaves of America, no! We got our independence through the barrel of a gun, we still have our guns.
…What we have here is African democracy. We define our own democracy, ours is different from Abraham Lincoln’s democracy. We are not inferior in everything, this is why we conquered them in the battlefield.