The secretary general of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWA) Victor Matemadanda has lambasted a group of war veterans that demonstrated in Harare recently against his leadership.
The war veterans, who were led by Fredrick Ngombe, made staggering demands, which included monthly gratuities of $2 000 each. Some of the protesting veterans berated Matemadanda for being bogus and having no interests of the war veterans at heart.
In his response to the allegations made against him by the War Veterans Welfare Committee, as the group calls itself, Matemadanda said
I cannot be vetted in the street. If I am not a war veteran, the association has a procedure of vetting its members, not a few rogue people demonstrating in the street. I was never imposed on the war veterans. I was voted for in Masvingo and before I became secretary-general, I was in the war veterans’ commissariat under the leadership of Jabulani Sibanda (former ZNLWVA leader). So all the years, they were electing someone who is not a war veteran?
They are also financed by a war veteran who is bitter that I refused to protect him from his rape case when he wanted to be an MP. The rapist pours in a lot of money for anything against Matemadanda. I have text messages when he was asking for protection and the time will come for me to let the cat out of the bag.
Others are also bitter that I refuse to protect their economic interests. Why they want me to protect things I don’t know about. Now they lie that I am not representing their interest, but no one ever came to my office telling me about those interests. Yes, war veterans have welfare issues, but this should not be at the expense of the people. Where can the government get the $2 000 per month when it is struggling to buy medicines, repair roads, among other issues?