Fissures within the ruling ZANU PF party have emerged with factions within the war veterans welfare organisation, the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) at each other’s throat over the launch of the party’s war veterans wing.
There is bad blood between ZNLWVA national spokesperson Douglas Mahiya and other officials in the organisation and war collaborators who are accusing him of “unilaterally” launching the ZANU PF war veterans’ wing without further consultations with key stakeholders.
Last month Mahiya launched the Mashonaland Central war veterans’ wing where he presided over appointments into the body — allegedly without consulting his colleagues.
Chairpersons of ZNLWVA from the country’s 10 provinces argued that the league formation was just rushed through the politburo, central committee and (2019 Zanu PF) conference (in Goromonzi) without consulting stakeholders. They said:
Provinces were expecting Mahiya to come to them to explain and update them on the modalities of conference resolutions on the league.
Ever since the period of the conference, Mahiya has not addressed veterans of the liberation struggle in any of the 10 provinces, yet he rushes to launch the league.
One wonders whose interests he is serving, also given the calibre of the people pushing him.
The war veterans demanded the party to reverse the appointments which were made during the (Mashonaland Central) meeting.
Meanwhile, ZNLWVA secretary-general Victor Matemadanda, who is also ZANU PF national political commissar told the Daily News that he was not aware of who organised the meeting. He said:
I don’t know who organised that meeting because the issue of party structures is under the commissariat department and we should have known that there is a meeting to launch the war veterans’ league.
I don’t know what really happened. Maybe he (Mahiya) has special permission to do that.
Vice-chairperson of the Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators (ZILIWACO), Josephine Gandiya, accused Mahiya of working against President Emmerson Mnangagwa. She said:
We have nothing to do with Mahiya’s purported launch. He is forming his own league which has nothing to do with the real war veterans.
Mahiya is working against the president. As an association, our duty is to second people who are going to be part of the war veterans’ league.
In our view, the league has not been launched. We totally dismiss what Mahiya did.