ZANU PF Bulawayo provincial chairperson and former chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWA) Jabulani Sibanda has requested that the government returns all ZIPRA-owned properties to ZAPU war veterans.
Speaking on Friday during the official opening of the SAI Mart shop in Entumbane, Bulawayo, by Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, Sibanda said war veterans contributed their meagre salaries to buy the farms. He said:
Acting President, here in Matabeleland, there are some farms that are owned by war veterans, not those that were acquired during the Land Act.
When we were at the assembly points, we contributed money from our meagre salaries to buy those properties.
Some of the properties have been returned, while others have not been returned due to paperwork challenges.
Today, you visited us with a hero’s mind and attitude, and so I want to take this opportunity through that window into your heart to say please do not release those farms through newspapers, release them physically so that we have access to them.
Sibanda also revealed that two brand new buses belonging to Zenzeleni Super Express co-operative were burnt to shells during the Gukurahundi era.
Chiwenga did not immediately respond to the issues raised about ZIPRA properties.
According to a Daily News report, some of the properties include Magnet House which houses the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) Bulawayo headquarters, Kudu Motors, Hampton Farm, Ascot Farm, Nest Egg Farm, Woodyglen Farm, Mbalabala Garage, Nyamandlovu Farm, Snake Park and Salisbury Motel in Harare, among others.
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