War Veterans Blast Mnangagwa Third Term Bid

Pamenus
Tuso

Bulawayo—Police
has
drawn
the
anger
of
the
Zimbabwe
National
Liberation
War
Veterans
Association
(ZNLWVA)
for
cancelling
its
previously
approved
meeting
planned
for
the
second
capital.

The
meeting
of
the
caretaker
national
war
veterans’
body
was
meant
primarily
to
discuss
impending
association
elections
reportedly
slated
for
Victoria
Falls
at
a
date
yet
to
be
decided.

The
cancellation—which
the
war
veterans
reported
came
following
unspecified
threats
to
the
police—forced
an
emergency
media
briefing
on
Friday
at
which
leaders
of
the
association
warned
a
group
of
Zanu
PF
members
to
stop
mobilising
for
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
reported
bid
for
a
third
term
in
office.

President
Mnangagwa
is
serving
his
second
and
last
term
that
is
set
to
expire
in
2028,
after
having
been
elected
into
office
first
in
2018
and
re-elected
at
last
August’s
polls.

He
was
president
in
a
transitional
capacity
between
November
2017 
until
the
July
2018
elections
following
a
military-assisted
takeover
from
the
late
Robert
Mugabe.

The
Zimbabwean
constitution
adopted
in
2013
limits
presidential
tenure
to
two
five-year
terms
that
may
be
served
continuously
or
intermittently.

At
the
press
conference—which
was
also
attended
by
veterans
from
ZIPRA,
a
parallel
former
anti-colonial
military
wing—the
former
liberation
fighters
condemned
alleged
violation
of
the
constitution
and
citizens’
rights
by
the
country’s
political
leaders
too.

The
national
veterans’
association
had
on
1
March
applied
to
hold
the
meeting
at
Stanley
Square
in
Bulawayo
today
(16
March)
between
10
O’clock
in
the
morning
and
noon.

On
5
March,
the
Zimbabwe
Republic
Police
(ZRP)
officer
commanding
Bulawayo
West
District,
Chief
Superintendent
Nobert
Ushe,
approved
the
meeting
in
writing
as
required
by
the
law.

The
ZNLWVA
Bulawayo
provincial
chairperson,
Dominic
Mhlanga,
said
he
was
yesterday
afternoon
summoned
by
police
and
verbally
informed
of
the
cancellation
of
the
meeting.

“Police
called
me
to
their
Southampton
offices
where
they
told
me
that
we
could
not
proceed
with
our
meeting
as
earlier
agreed.

“The
police
said
they
have
been
threatened
to
call
off
our
meeting. 
This
a
very
sad
development
because
resources
had
been
put
into
organising
the
meeting.

“We
fought
for
the
rights
of
association
and
assembly
but
our
rights
are
now
being
denied,”
Mhlanga
to
journalists
at
the
emergency
press
briefing.

Speaking
during
press
conference,
ZNLWVA
national
chairperson,
Andrease
Ethan
Mathibela,
vowed
that
the
former
freedom
fighters
would
block
any
move
to
extend
Mnangagwa’s
term
of
office
beyond
2028.

Calls
to
have
Mnangagwa
serve
a
third
term
have
been
increasing
in
Zanu
PF
circles,
with
Masvingo
province
leading
the
agenda.

The
ruling
party’s
activists
have
already
coined
the
catchphrase
“2030
vaMnangagwa
vanenge
vachipo”
(In
2030,
Mnangagwa
will
still
be
in
power).

The
President
has,
however,
not
distanced
himself
from
the
slogan.

“We
have
witnessed
gross
mischief
by
a
few
sloganeering
misfits
who
seek
to
test
the
waters
by
conditioning
the
population
to
accept
the
setting
aside
of
our
sacred
constitutional
provisions,
thereby
attempting
to
usher
in
open-ended
dynastic
rule
in
Zimbabwe.

“If
these
recent
events
are
anything
to
go
by,
then
we
should
all
be
worried.
Let
them
(those
bidding
for
a
third
term)
be
warned,”
said
Mathibela.

The
outspoken
ZNLWVA
leader
has
in
the
past
vowed
that,
despite
being
affiliated
to
the
ruling
party,
war
veterans
must
hold
government
leaders
to
account.

“It
doesn’t
matter
if
I
belong
to
a
ruling
party,
when
it
comes
to
the
expectations
of
the
generality
of
war
veterans,
we
want
to
hold
the
government
accountable
to
achieve
our
expectations,”
he
told
the
online
news
outlet, CITE,
in
February
this
year.

Mathibela
also
rapped
the
judiciary
for
allegedly
allowing
itself
to
be
manipulated
by
politicians
and
disregarding
voters’
rights.

He
was
referring
to
the
courts’
upholding
of
Sengezo
Tshabangu’s
claim
to
have
the
power
to
recall
elected
opposition
legislators
and
councillors
after
the
2023
harmonised
elections.

Tshabangu,
who
appointed
himself
the
interim
secretary
general,
emerged
from
the
rank
and
file
of
the
opposition
Citizens
Coalition
for
Change
(CCC)
and
caused
the
recall
of
numerous
parliamentarians
and
councillors
elected
on
the
party
ticket,
resulting
in
by-elections
that
widened
Zanu
PF’s
win
to
a
majority
in
parliament.

“Those
that
swore
to
be
custodians
and
honest
arbiters
of
right
and
wrong
have
been
anything
else
but
just
in
their
adjudication,”
he
said
in
apparent
reference
to
some
judges
who
have
been
accused
of
being
captured
by
the
executive
arm
of
government.

“The
right
of
the
masses
to
vote
has
been
substituted
by
the
right
to
veto
by
a
single
individual
(Tshabangu)
who
was
not
only
ineligible
to
vote
in
the
constituencies
whose
votes
he
nullified
but
is
perhaps
not
even
a
verified
registered
voter
himself
after
all.

“Our
inalienable
right
to
self-
determination
is
sacrosanct
and
after
we
have
agreed
or
disagreed…one
thing
we
can
all
agree
on
is
that
we
are
all
Zimbabweans
and
each
one
of
us
is
entitled
to
one
vote
of
self
-determination
under
our
Constitution.

“Therefore,
to
take
that
one
vote
from
anyone
or
suppress
it
in
any
way
would
be
gross
infringement
of
one’s
fundamental
constitutional
rights,
an
injustice
of
the
worst
kind,”
said
Mathibela.

War
veterans
have
played
an
active
role
in
ruling
party
and
national
succession
politics.

In
the
run-up
to
former
president
Robert
Mugabe’s
removal
from
office
with
direct
military
assistance
in
late
2017,
they
openly
protested
against
the
long-time
ruler.

They
were
led
by
veterans
who
included
Christopher
Mutsvangwa
and
Victor
Matemadanda,
who
were
subsequently
incorporated
into
cabinet
by
the
Mugabe
successors
led
by
Mnangagwa
and
former
army
general,
Constantino
Chiwenga.

Mathibela
added
that
Mnangagwa
was
surrounded
by
“criminals”
who
must
be
removed
from
positions
of
power.

“In
2017,
the
special
operation
(Operation
Restore
Order
that
led
to
Mugabe’s
exit)
sought
to
remove
the
criminals
from
around
the
presidency
and
bring
sanity
to
the
top
leadership
of
the
country.

“The
people
of
Zimbabwe
and
war
veterans
led
the
charge.
Perhaps
we
did
not
thoroughly
carry
out
this
task
to
the
letter.
Today,
it
has
even
become
every
criminal
‘s
dream
to
be
called
honourable
and
these
criminals
are
becoming
more
emboldened,”
he
noted.

Source:


War
veterans
blast
Mnangagwa
third
term
bid
–

NewsHub

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published
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