OUTSPOKEN war veteran Max Mkandla has called on President Emmerson Mnangagwa to dissolve the entire Cabinet and co-opt people who still cherish the aims and objectives of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle.
In an interview with Southern Eye, Mkandla said Mnangagwa should co-opt retired army officers in his government so that they remind him of how they left school at a tender age to join the liberation struggle.
He said the ruling Zanu PF party should also be dissolved and war veteran representatives of all provinces should form an advisory committee to Mnangagwa.
“This will help President Mnangagwa to get the correct information on the ground. We are requesting that President Mnangagwa should dissolve the entire Cabinet because there is no one who is clean. If there is one he will be re-appointed,” he said.
Mkandla said war veterans were being neglected while some individuals were splashing money around the country.
“There are those that have been vetted, so there is no explanation as to what is now holding up the releasing of their benefits,” he said.
“Names of those who qualify have been submitted to the Ministry of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle and they should receive their US$50 000, but the Ministry of Finance is silent about this issue.”
Mkandla said war veterans were dying like poisoned rats.
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“Why should we be given loans, to do what when big companies are crumbling? They want us to import second-hand clothes and where are we going to get the market? They should give us our money and we will decide what we will do with it with our families,” he said.
Meanwhile, another war veteran, Retired Colonel Hamphrey Makuyana, said the welfare of veterans of the liberation struggle was a national responsibility.
In a statement, Makuyana highlighted that a nation that does not take care of its heroes loses its soul.
“When the sons and daughters of Zimbabwe took up arms to fight colonial oppression, they did not do so for personal glory,” he said.
“They fought for the dignity, freedom and sovereignty of the motherland. Today, Zimbabwe stands tall as an independent republic, not by chance, but because of the sacrifices of thousands of brave men and women.
“Yet decades after independence, many veterans of the liberation struggle continue to languish in poverty, neglect, and ill health, a situation that dishonours the legacy of our liberation.”
Makuyana said something was gravely wrong when those who fought for independence were reduced to vendors and beggars.
“A dignified life for liberation war veterans is a moral debt the nation must pay not only with pensions and land but with honour, dignity and integration into national life,” he said.
He said the benefits were not charity, but a constitutional obligation, adding such a multi-sectoral approach ensured holistic support and restored dignity to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
