* Veterans plan meeting in Matobo next month

* Accuse Cde Sibanda of neglecting them

By Zandile Sibanda

CRACKS have emerged within the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWA), with one faction passing a vote of no confidence in their leader Cde Jabulani Sibanda for failing to support the traditional cleansing of war veterans at the Njelele Shrine among a host of other allegations.

The faction calling for Cde Sibanda’s axing has since written a letter in which they also accuse him of failing to support the reburial of war veterans who died outside the country and denouncing the cleansing ceremonies at Njelele because he is a staunch Seventh Day Adventist.

Sunday News is in possession of the letter that was copied to senior Zanu-PF officials and all provincial governors dated 1 June. Contacted for comment, Cde Sibanda said he had received the letter but had no time to read “such a letter coming from nonsensical people’’.

In the letter, which was signed by ZNLWA chief publicity secretary Cde George Kativhu, the war veterans also accuse Cde Sibanda of failing to lead meaningful programmes and destroying Zanu-PF. They also took exception to reports that Cde Sibanda called those that went for the cleansing ceremony at Njelele   renegades.

“Within the war veterans, there was some discovery in 2010 that our tradition calls for the cleansing of every revolutionary fighter and that all comrades were compelled to participate in that exercise despite that the exercise should have taken place in 1980.

“. . . On 3 May the cleansing group was to hold a Ndongamabwe or memorial service for the spirits of the deceased war veterans now put to rest at the Matopo where he was also invited. He instead had a meeting prior to our arrival with the likes of Dabengwa, Cde Nyoni, Ngwenya who is the Zinatha president there, and chiefs Masuku, Mathema and Khumalo over our visits there. He could not get details from us as our leader, but labelled us renegades,’’ the letter reads in part.

“I received the letter and had no time to read a letter coming from nonsensical people most of whom are not war veterans and pretend to be war veterans. They just organise with their traditional healers besiyazigezela iminyama yabo eNjelele which is a sacred place, besiyancolisa iNjelele, they are crazy,’’ he said.

He said he was in Hurungwe conducting mass rallies.

Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo said he was not in a position to comment as senior party officials had not received the letter.

Cde Monica Mguni Sikhosana an ex-Zipra cadre said tradition called for the cleansing of every revolutionary fighter to remove bad spirits from the war.

“Cleansing is done by the man called Nehonyika, who knows the culture that if a freedom fighter goes to war there is a sacred place and some water which should be used to remove bad spirits. We only cleanse with water not anything else just like what was done by our elders in the past and this is done to remove all the bad spirits acquired when we were jumping dead bodies that we came across during the war. That’s why we went to Njelele for that exercise,’’ she said.

“In the 1980s Comrade Chenjerai Hunzvi called me and other comrades for cleansing and I refused because I didn’t know what it meant. I realised last year that it was important to remove those bad spirits. Just as the whites have their own culture, we also have ours.’’

Cde Kativhu said Cde Sibanda does not take the welfare of the war veterans seriously.

“We all met as comrades and we as freedom fighters saw that for the past nine years our leader, Cde Jabulani Sibanda, has not been taking our welfare seriously. He does not care about the welfare of the fighters with some having their pieces of land repossessed with him doing nothing completely,’’ he said.

Cde Kativhu said his group was planning to hold a bigger meeting on 6 July in Matobo and invited the  media to attend. He said they were tired of Cde Sibanda’s activities.