FORMER Zimbabwe National Army captain Solomon Ndlovu , who is fighting for reinstatement after being acquitted in the criminal courts, has bemoaned the suffering he endured during the liberation struggle and Gukurahundi atrocities.
Ndlovu is battling for reinstatement following a successful fight for freedom after being wrongfully incarcerated for theft.
He recently lamented the pain he has endured following several detentions since the Gukurahundi period in the 1980s.
“After we returned from the war in 1980, during Gukurahundi we were arrested and detained at Kabrit Barracks, where we were tortured for allegedly trying to join the bandits. We were never taken to court,” Ndlovu said.
“We expected to be in the national army and continue serving our country as we were loyal to the principles of the liberation struggle and government, but we were mistreated and later released.”
He also said some members were deployed to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where they were captured and detained at Yekela for a year.
“On our release I found out that my family had moved on. We were being given US$300 while our Namibian counterparts were given US$600,” Ndlovu said.
“The DRC must compensate us. All those who were on that mission must be compensated because we suffered a lot for one year in detention.”
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He said he was also deployed to Mozambique to protect the Beira Corridor but ended up patrolling and fighting in the Mozambican territory against that country's enemy but never received any compensation.
“In future our children will demand compensation for that from these countries. What surprises me is that in our country, those who just dance and shake their bottoms get rewarded with hefty gifts while those who suffered to liberate this country are still suffering 44 years after independence,” Ndlovu said.
He said the farm he had received from the late President Robert Mugabe’s government called Yekela had since been wrested from him.
“In future we will drag the DRC government to court for abusing us,” he said.
Ndlovu recently appealed to ZNA commander Lieutenant-General Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe to intervene and assist him to return to work.
He was arrested in 2017 after a businessman and Zanu PF activist, Osfael Mazibuko, and his manager Denis Ndlovu reported him to the police on allegations of stealing a vehicle.
He was later convicted of the offence and sentenced to six years in jail, with two months suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.
Five months were suspended on condition he restituted Mazibuko US$2 500, leaving him with an effective 65 months to serve.
He successfully appealed against both conviction and sentence after serving one year and eight months at Khami Maximum Security Prison in Bulawayo.
Ndlovu’s efforts to be reinstated to work have been fruitless.
He has sued Mazibuko for causing his arrest and imprisonment on false car theft charges. He is demanding US$102 800 damages and compensation for loss of 78 heads of cattle and tractors.
