ZIMBABWE People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra) war veterans have expressed concern over the conditions which have been set for the return of their properties, saying they suspect the information required will expose them to attacks.
This emerged during a Zipra war veterans meeting held in Bulawayo at Stanley Hall on Sunday this week.
According to the form, war veterans are required to fill in such information as pseudonyms, country of training, assembly point, area of specialisation, regional commander, three names of training instructors, operational area and bank accounts.
One of the war veterans who spoke on conditions of anonymity complained that the registration was tantamount to being vetted again yet some of them had gone through the process before.
The former guerrilla war fighters also saw no logic in them being asked the pseudonyms they used during the war as they fear that the information would be handed to former enemies.
“How can they ask for our account numbers as if we have already agreed that we will sell those properties? We are not done with identification of all our properties,” said one of the veterans of the 1970s bush war to liberate Zimbabwe from colonial rule.
“My fear is that when we release all this information, our former enemies will track us down. Most of the information in that form is irrelevant. This is now a security concern for us, we do not operate like that as military people.”
They said the body dealing with the properties was unconstitutional and the only body which they recognised was the one constituted by the Zipra War Veterans Association.
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A senior former Zipra commander, Thomas Ngwenya, said the government was deliberately avoiding to award war veterans compensation.
“This is a deliberate move. How come we were given our benefits in the form of cars, allowances and monthly fuel allowance?” he asked.
Other war veterans also complained about the delays in awarding them their compensation after being vetted more than six months ago.
“We want to start projects for our children using the money before we die, but the government is delaying. We are being stressed up,” one war veteran told the meeting.
However, Zipra properties board chairperson Volta Moyo said the conditions on the form were agreed on by the leadership.
“The board is responsible for the return of properties and is a legal one formed after dissolving the committee at Stanley Square,” Moyo said.
