Zanu-PF war veterans league operationalises structures

Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter

THE Zanu-PF’s War Veterans League has embarked on a nationwide drive to operationalise its grassroots structures and help them to be knitted together with the ruling party’s three other wings, so as to consolidate the values and gains of the liberation struggle.

Previously, the war veterans were an affiliate of the party, but are now a fully-fledged wing of Zanu-PF following a Politburo resolution that was made at the 333rd session, in November 2019.

The wing went on to hold its inaugural elective conference in September 2022, where its first national executive was elected.

Zanu-PF Secretary for War Veterans Affairs, Cde Douglas Mahiya was in Bulawayo last week before proceeding to Lupane in Matabeleland North Province, where he together with the wing’s leadership met war veterans to discuss modalities of operationalising their structures and work, with other wings of the party.

Speaking to Sunday News soon after the meeting in Bulawayo, Cde Mahiya said after the decision was reached to bring on board the military wings of the revolutionary parties Zapu and Zanu to form a league, a wing of the party Zanu-PF emerged and they made an effort to come up with structures.

“After we formed a wing of the party, we made efforts to come up with a structure. National structure, provincial structure and district structures were done making us the fourth wing of the party of Zanu-PF. We held our first ever conference before the Zanu-PF congress and so, we are part of Zanu-PF. We are found in the constitution of the party with specific revolutionary terms of reference. So, given that task, we needed to then ensure that our structures are directed, we have created an awareness of what they should be doing.

“We have operationalised the structure that I am talking about and this is the programme that we have.

We are moving throughout the whole country to operationalise the War Veterans League. What it literally means is that we are then educating office bearers and portfolio holders at a provincial level and at district level, on how they should be communicating with other leagues, the Youth League and the Women’s League,” said Cde Mahiya.

He said the war veterans have a broad knowledge politically that they acquired and used to prosecute the war against colonial rule.

That is the knowledge and level of commitment that Cde Mahiya said they would want given to the young people.

“At all our meetings, we encourage them (youth) to be with us, so that we educate them politically and tell them our journey, the objectives that were given by the party and the desire of the President as the leader of the party in Government that of ensuring we defend this nation and we defend the party leadership. It is the kind of knowledge that we keep inculcating into the young people.

“This becomes a defence mechanism for the party. I hope you are aware that our enemy did not sit back even after we got independence. They went further to try and ensure that they reverse the gains of independence and this is what we are building on, to ensure that the people, especially the young people, are upgraded in their understanding of who they are in this country and what they should do because a revolution is a continuous process,” said Cde Mahiya.

He said they wanted the war veterans, the young people, and the women to be knitted together to become a force again, taking a leaf from the history of the liberation struggle when they united as Zanla and Zpra and the masses of Zimbabwe and defeated the enemy. —@nyeve14