Zipra war vets concerned over property release delays 

ZIPRA war veterans have raised concerns over the government’s delay to release their property which was confiscated at the height of the Gukurahundi massacres in the 1980s.

The Zipra war veterans back then were accused by the government of using the properties to plot insurgency against the administration of the late former President Robert Mugabe.

Zipra national spokesperson Buster Magwizi complained over the issue on Thursday during a media briefing in Bulawayo.

“We have engaged the President [Emmerson Mnangagwa] to return our properties which were confiscated in the 1980s,” he said.

“Since the beginning of his rule in 2017, we have engaged the government, but until today, we are singing the same song as we are yet to be given back our property.”

Magwizi said they were worried that the government had pledged to pay the white former commercial farmers whose farms were expropriated during the height of the land reform programme at the turn of the millennium and in the years that followed, but has failed to release their property.

Government says it will compensate the white former farmers for developments they made on the land and not the actual land itself.

“We are worried as Zipra that we have been unfairly treated since we continue to suffer,” Magwizi said.

“Government has been able to sow division among war veteran as those from the Zanla side have benefited the most at our expense.

“Currently, they have made conception of Munhumutapa project which has been funded by the State, while we are yet to receive our confisticated property for over 40 years.”

Magwizi added that the government should cater for all war veterans regardless of political affiliation as they both fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe.

Zipra deputy spokesperson Joachim Moyo said the painful part was that there were some politicians who live a great life at their expense as they divert funds meant for them for their own benefits.

“As war veterans, we fought for the benefit of every citizen regardless of political affiliation to have a better life, but currently there are only a few individuals squandering the nation’s resources for their personal gains,” he said.

Moyo said the problem they are facing as war veterans is that the government has been failing to deliver their promises on time.

“At the moment, the process of vetting war veterans by the government has been manipulated a lot,” he said.

“Those who are qualified to receive their rewards are yet to have them.

“The welfare of war veterans has been overlooked as most of them are living in poverty, which is a shame.”