A group claiming the legitimacy of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) has poured cold water on claims by a splinter arm of war veterans led by Andrease Ethan Mathibela that reportedly vowed to block President Mnangagwa’s bid to extend his term of office beyond 2028.
Cde Samuel Getbusy Mhlanga, the Information Secretary of the ZNLWVA Interim National Committee has said genuine paid-up members of the ZNLWVA are guided by the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Act as amended that prohibits PVOs from meddling in politics.
“We therefore distance ourselves from the utterances of Cde Ethan Mathibela currently making some rounds in the social media. We wish to inform the Government and the ruling Party that we are not part of and do not subscribe to Cde Mathibela’s pronouncement about the governing of this country. We are concerned about our welfare and should we have issues, we communicate them through our Patron, who is the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
“We would like to inform the war veterans constituency that the ZNLWVA is currently being administered by an Interim Committee chaired by Cde Moffat Elias Marashwa,” Cde Mhlanga said.
The Interim Committee was established after it was realised that the National Committee which was elected in 2014 in Masvingo had not only overstayed but failed to fulfill ZNLWVA Constitutional provisions regarding holding Annual General Meetings (AGM) or Elective Conferences for more than 10 years but ignored the provisions of the PVO Act which demands annual Audited Financial statements and reports of activities.
The formation of the National Interim Committee led by Cde Marashwa came into being following advice from Government officials who realised that the ZNLWVA was about to be deregistered because of violating the PVO Act.
“Now, as the Interim Committee, we are committed to following our founding Constitution and adhering to the provisions of the PVO Act as amended. We are dealing with paid-up members and these are the war veterans who we are going to call for the Elective Conference which we are organising. We kindly advise all war veterans who want to be part of the Resuscitation of the ZNLWVA to pay their membership subscription to ZB Bank Account number 147887405 Msasa Branch. The monthly subscription is $2 and the annual subscription is $24.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the former ZNLWVA National Chairman and ZANU PF Secretary for Information and Publicity, Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa for not interfering with the operations of the National Interim Committee chaired by Cde Moffat Elias Marashwa. We however wish to also inform war veterans that there are people who managed to infiltrate us during the 1997 vetting period and are misleading some senior ruling party leaders that they are now in charge of the ZNLWVA. Other than Cde Mutsvangwa Christopher, they are sourcing funding from the Party. We urge our Party ZANU PF leaders to ignore them. They are bogus. Dealing with them is tantamount to interfering with the ZNLWVA and in the process violating the PVO Act which prohibits private voluntary organisations from mingling into politics.
“At the moment, we have mobilised enough membership including senior members in Government and the ruling Party who have paid their membership subscription. And we are ready to call for our Elective Conference. We keep our Patron, the Registrar of PVOs in the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare, and the Ministry responsible for Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs updated on all our activities,” Cde Mhlanga added.
Over the weekend, the Zimbabwe Republic Police cancelled a meeting by a group led by Mathibela that was pencilled to take place in Bulawayo.
The cancellation drew the ire of Mathibela who castigated the political leadership for allowing a self-proclaimed opposition leader, Sengezo Tshabangu, to recall elected members of the opposition from Councils and Parliament. Mathibela went on to meddle in succession politics in the ruling party. Genuine war veterans are claiming such moves are against their Constitution.
