Did our freedom fighters go to war for a shack, borehole, and solar panel?

In just a matter of weeks, a $1.5 million “Presidential War Veterans Fund” was announced, supposedly a revolving fund for “income-generating projects.”

Shortly after, the government pledged to drill boreholes and install solar panels at every home of these former freedom fighters.

And, most recently, the Mnangagwa administration unveiled a “Presidential War Veterans Rural Housing Scheme,” which purports to offer “decent housing” while ensuring war veterans benefit from solar energy schemes.

According to state-controlled media, these programs are set to benefit “more than 1,000 rural-based veterans of the liberation struggle.”

But why now?

Why has President Mnangagwa suddenly decided that these former combatants, who risked their lives in the struggle against colonial rule, are worthy of attention?

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It Is deeply troubling that after nearly half a century of independence, those who took over power on the backs of these brave men and women’s sacrifices are only now remembering that war veterans are languishing in abject poverty.

Why did it take 45 years for the ruling elite to realize that these men and women still need houses, boreholes, and “income-generating projects”?

Where were they all along?

Since independence, Zimbabwe’s leaders have exploited these intrepid individuals—many of whom were forced from their villages and schools to join the liberation struggle—for self-serving political interests.

Yet, once their usefulness diminishes, they are discarded and forgotten.

The ruling elite only remembers them when their grip on power is threatened.

This is precisely what happened in the year 2000 when it became clear that the ruling ZANU-PF party was in danger of losing the general elections.

The land issue—never a key part of the government’s manifesto—was suddenly thrust into the spotlight to placate war veterans who had spent two decades demanding land, only to be ignored.

Each time these ex-combatants attempted to occupy land, they were arrested or forcibly evicted and labeled “squatters.”

Yet, when ZANU-PF faced imminent electoral defeat, the leadership suddenly allowed them to seize white-owned fars.

This was never about empowering war veterans.

It was a cynical political maneuver designed to ensure the ruling party’s survival.

And once again, history is repeating itself.

I have personally been approached by several ex-combatants who have been forcibly removed from farms they were allocated during the land reform program, only for those properties to be handed to powerful elites and their allies.

Even when these war veterans present their legal offer letters in court, their cases are either thrown out or endlessly delayed without resolution.

Many of those who initially benefited from the land reform program no longer have land, as it has been grabbed by the ruling elite.

Time and again, various schemes purportedly designed to “empower” war veterans have been looted by those connected to the corridors of power.

Only a handful of deserving ex-combatants have ever received anything substantial.

This is why, after all these years, war veterans remain some of the poorest people in Zimbabwe despite their phenomenal sacrifices.

If past experience is any indication, these latest “presidential schemes” will be no different.

They are designed not for genuine upliftment but as tools of political manipulation.

The timing of these initiatives is no coincidence.

Mnangagwa’s supporters are aggressively pushing for him to extend his stay in power beyond the constitutionally mandated two five-year terms.

However, this push faces fierce resistance from significant sections of the war veterans’ movement, particularly those led by Blessing Geza, Knox Chivero, and the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA).

These voices have been openly critical of the plan to extend Mnangagwa’s rule.

The architects of the “ED 2030 campaign” are acutely aware that war veterans are a highly influential constituency.

Their opposition alone could derail these ambitions.

That is why, all of a sudden, the government has launched these schemes—thinly veiled attempts to bribe war veterans into supporting Mnangagwa’s bid to remain in office.

If history is any guide, once these objectives are achieved, war veterans will again be discarded and forgotten until the next political crisis.

Yet even within these so-called “schemes,” there are glaring signs of insincerity.

The supposed “houses” being handed to war veterans are nothing more than shacks—barely distinguishable from the makeshift structures found in informal settlements in South Africa and Brazil.

Seeing pictures of these structures is enough to make one’s heart sink.

It is an insult to the men and women to risked everything for this country’s independence.

Did they go to war for a shack, a borehole, and a solar panel?

While war veterans are being given these inadequate handouts, those in charge of these schemes are making millions from government tenders.

One of the key figures spearheading these programs is Dr. Paul Tungwarara, chairman of Prevail Group International (PGI), a company that has secured a multimillion-dollar contract under the “Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme.”

Given PGI’s involvement in the national borehole drilling initiative, it would be no surprise if Tungwarara personally profits from this latest borehole program for war veterans.

In other words, these so-called “schemes” are likely little more than self-enrichment opportunities for a select few while war veterans remain destitute and be content with some supposed “income generating projects”.

Those in power have been riding roughshod over these former freedom fighters for too long.

It is time war veterans stood up against the ruling elite that has systematically used them for decades to maintain its grip on power.

Many of today’s ruling elites were safely tucked away in Mozambique and Zambia while these men and women were fighting on the ground.

After independence, these same leaders abandoned the very people who had made their political careers possible.

Meanwhile, individuals like Tungwarara and other new elites—“zvigananda” such as Wicknell Chivayo, who have amassed immense wealth through questionable government deals—were not even born when these freedom fighters were making the ultimate sacrifices.

Now, these “zvigananda” want to be seen as saviors of our true heroes.

This is an insult of the highest order.

Zimbabwe’s war veterans did not take up arms to fight for mere shacks, boreholes, and solar panels.

They fought for dignity, justice, and a country that would empower all its people—not just a handful of politically connected elites.

Until the ruling class stops using these men and women as pawns for their own power games, Zimbabwe will never truly honor the sacrifices of those who fought for its liberation.

• Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justiceadvocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/