A MAJOR showdown is looming within the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association after a faction of the former fighters announced that it would march to meet President Robert Mugabe at State House over their welfare and problems rocking the ruling Zanu PF. MOSES MATENGA/ OBEY MANAYITI
The intended march to meet Mugabe comes at a time Zanu PF is locked in serious infighting ahead of the December elective congress.
This has seen First Lady Grace Mugabe tearing into Vice-President Joice Mujuru, accusing her of being corrupt and planning to wrest power from Mugabe.
War veterans’ leader Jabulani Sibanda, who has vowed to defend the country from a “bedroom or boardroom coup”, announced that the march would come “in a few days”, saying the group was being blocked from seeing its patron. 
Yesterday, Sibanda said he would be able to give details on the intended march today.
Provincial war vets leader for Manicaland Linda Mathathu said the march should not be viewed as a protest against Mugabe.
“Comrades want to go and see the president, it is unfortunate that people think it’s a demonstration,” she said.
“We are marching to go and see baba (President) and when baba sees us marching to him, he will come to meet us.
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“People are taking it wrongly that we are protesting against the president, we have nothing to demonstrate against him.”
When asked who was preventing them from seeing the president and the agenda of the meeting, Mathathu said that was for the national leaders who were organising the march to respond to.
On Tuesday, Sibanda insinuated that there were people blocking him from the president, accusing them of destroying the party.
But the leader of another war veterans’ faction and Buhera South legislator Joseph Chinotimba (pictured) said the purported march was nonsensical and he would mobilise war veterans against the move.
“That’s nonsense If he doesn’t like someone, it’s up to him to say I don’t like someone,” he said.
“It’s like an MDC-T member saying he doesn’t like President Mugabe, you can’t take action against that person.
“If he doesn’t like Amai (Grace) Mugabe, there is no comment I can make because he doesn’t like her.”
Chinotimba said Mathathu was “not even in party structures, not even in the cell and, therefore, she can’t even talk about party structures”.
“She is just a leader of an NGO like your own ZUJ (Zimbabwe Union of Journalists), you can’t say I have a position in Zanu PF because I am a member of ZUJ,” he said.
“She is not in Zanu PF structures, she can be in Zanu PF but she is not a leader.”
Chinotimba said the war veterans’ association would organise a march against Sibanda if he dared organise one to go to State House. “If you attack baba’s wife, you would also have attacked baba,” he charged.
“The comrades are angry because he attacked baba’s wife, he is dreaming about the march.
“If he goes ahead with his march, we will see that he is an MDC-T person and we will discipline him.”
