A faction of the the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) has described Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Mozambique Victor Matemadanda as a fake war veteran as the fight for positions in the organisation intensifies ahead of a congress next month.
Matemadanda, who was the association’s secretary general, is seeking a return to the hierarchy of the ZNLWVA as its national chairman.
He is seen as a loyalist of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and is seen playing a big rule in the push for the 81 year-old leader to stay in power beyond 2028.
Matemadanda is likely to face three other candidates, who have been seconded to the race by different interest groups within the war veterans sector.
These could include Moffat Marashwa, Andreas Ethan Matibela and former chairman, Chris Mutsvangwa, who is also said to be leading another faction of the ZNLWVA.
Matibela, who leads an increasingly vocal ZNLWVA faction, told journalists in Bulawayo yesterday that they were investigating Matemedanda’s war credentials.
“I can tell you today that the leadership challenges that we have today in the association were sponsored as far back as 10 or 12 years back when we hosted our congress in Masvingo,” he said.
“It is at this congress where very few bona fide war veterans had a chance to elect their leadership.
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“I can even tell you that the rest of the people, who made it into the hierarchy, including Chris Mutsvangwa and Victor Matemadanda were brought to the war veterans in a list and people were told to vote for them by some people from the party (Zanu PF).”
Matibela said war veterans wanted to find out how Matemedanda ended up at the apex of the association.
“I want to inform the nation today that Victor Matemadanda did not participate in the struggle,” he said.
“As an association, we are going to investigate this issue and seek a solution. We cannot afford to have the association being infiltrated by people with their own ambitions.
“People have come with nefarious intentions in an effort to assume legitimacy within the ZNLWVA.
“These kinds of characters have benefitted immensely from the war veterans’ association in what I term as fraud.
“They have continued to benefit under the pretense that they are bona fide war veterans yet they are not and this needs to be acted upon.”
Matemadanda told The Standard that the claims were false.
“I did not do the training in the newspapers. I don’t want to involve myself in politics of formerlism. When I talk of formerlism I mean someone is former this and that,” he said.
“What is at stake is the campaign for national chairmanship. I am campaigning for the national chairmanship of the war veterans because I am a war veteran.
“If Matibela thinks otherwise I am free to have him to seek a commission that will vet my credentials because I was vetted by a commission that was commissioned by the then president Robert Mugabe.
“This story as you may know, it is a fully in the archives. Many people have used it several times and I don’t want to involve myself into that rubbish.”
He said the recent attacks were part of the campaign for the association’s national chairmanship and he was focused on his campaign.
