Mujuru sets up war vets body

The Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) led by former Vice-President Joice Mujuru has begun a process of setting up a structure of former liberation war fighters within its structures.

The move, which is in line with Mujuru’s party constitution, comes hard on the heels of another opposition party, Zapu, led by former Home Affairs minister Dumiso Dabengwa, setting up its own war veterans body to rival the one aligned to the ruling Zanu PF.

War veterans have, particularly since the turn of the century, been used as political storm-troopers along with traditional leaders by President Robert Mugabe to cow ordinary Zimbabweans into supporting his Zanu PF during elections.

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