DIRECTORS of Zvimba East Veterans Investment Company (Zevic) say they are able to steer the ship amid boardroom squabbles, abuse of office and corruption allegations that are bedeviling the company.
The company, which is wholly-owned by veterans of the liberation struggle, has interests in property development, tourism and agriculture.
Last week the directors told NewsDay that they have picked up the pieces and were ready to drive the company out of the woods.
They said the infighting within Zevic was a result of divisions within associations representing veterans of the liberation struggle.
“We have only realised that these boardroom squabbles are unnecessary and are only meant to handicap the country’s economic growth and development aspirations,” Zevic patron Cornelius Muwoni said.
“Initially, Zevic was established as a vehicle to assist war veterans in Zvimba East and uplift their living standards. However, we have seen that we can go beyond the district and assist war veterans in other districts and the general populace of Zimbabwe.”
Muwoni, who is also provincial chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association in Mashonaland West, said they had identified idle farms in Nyabira and Norton, which they have turned into residential areas.
“We are developing Penrose Farm in Nyabira and Porta Farm in Norton with the intention of establishing residential stands for our people,” he said.
“We have engaged technocrats to do the engineering, surveying and other technical assignments. We want to demystify the notion that war veterans cannot do it. We can do it and the housing project is there for all to see.”
Muwoni said the housing projects were meant to augment the government's efforts of providing decent accommodation to all.
“The idea is to support the government and its development aspirations,” he said.
He said the restructuring of Zevic resulted in retired Major Joe Chimonyo taking over as the chief executive officer to address corporate governance issues within the company.
“We had to restructure after we had issues with our corporate governance as well as abuse of office and corruption involving some of our directors,” Muwoni said.
“We believe the new team, which involves the youths will steer the ship and bring sanity within the organisation. We have bought our equipment including four tractors and soon we are buying earth moving equipment. We now have decent offices.”
He said Zevic was also making a breakthrough in other sectors that include creating synergies with small-scale miners.
“We can come on board and help struggling miners with equipment and technical expertise,” Muwoni said.
Elina Chasi, Zevic director (human resources and agriculture) said they were looking forward to value-adding agricultural commodities to enhance their earnings.
“We are not only looking at agriculture in general but we want to add value such as packaging, processing and distributing targeting foreign markets,” she said.
“We also want to help the wives of war veterans, their families and the elderly. When we went to war, we were doing it for everyone to enjoy the freedom, that's why our development aspirations encompass everyone.”
Chasi bemoaned the arbitrary arrests of the former combatants, citing the recent arrests of seven Zevic directors.
Chimonyo said there was a need for government to commit to improving the welfare of war veterans.