Veterans of the liberation war have expressed concern over delays by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration to hasten the exhumation and reburial of victims who are still buried in mass graves across the country.
This comes barely a week after a group of ex-combatants berated Mnangagwa for failing to take their welfare seriously.
In a statement issued on Saturday, former freedom fighters accused Mnangagwa of failing to honour them. The statement, issued by the Mashonaland West provincial war veterans leadership, read:
We are deeply concerned that some of our late fighters are still yet to be reburied. Hurungwe liberation war veterans resolved that every effort be made for the exhumation and reburial, with commensurate honours, of the departed heroes of the Second Chimurenga who met their deaths in Hurungwe district, Mashonaland West province, and that the process be accelerated.
The veterans, to realise this goal, call upon all veterans in the district to contribute towards a fund to be established for this purpose, and for all who have information of burial sites’ locations to make some available to Veterans of the Liberation Struggle through the party administration offices in Karoi.
The veterans arrived at this resolution following recognition that efforts made towards honouring the departed heroes over the past 41 years of independence have been half-hearted and uncoordinated, displaying a lack of commitment from both the party and government.
They also applauded the efforts of the Fallen Heroes Trust, which has made it possible to exhume and re-bury those that have been found around the country.
They criticised the ruling ZANU PF and government for failing or neglecting the task of exhumation and reburial of their colleagues leaving the task in the hands of living veterans.
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