Published: 3 hours ago

Outspoken war veteran Max Mkandla has urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa to dissolve his entire Cabinet and replace it with individuals who remain true to the aims and objectives of Zimbabwe's liberation struggle.

In a hard-hitting interview, Mkandla said Mnangagwa should bring retired army officers into government to remind him of the sacrifices made during the liberation war. He further proposed that Zanu-PF itself be dissolved and replaced with an advisory committee made up of war veteran representatives from all provinces.

"This will help President Mnangagwa to get the correct information on the ground. We are requesting that President Mnangagwa should dissolve the entire Cabinet because there is no one who is clean. If there is one, he will be re-appointed," Mkandla said.

He accused government of neglecting war veterans while allowing others to flaunt wealth across the country. Mkandla said veterans who were vetted and approved for benefits had yet to receive their promised US$50 000 payouts.
"Names of those who qualify have been submitted to the Ministry of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle, but the Ministry of Finance is silent. Why should we be given loans, to do what, when big companies are crumbling? They want us to import second-hand clothes — where are we going to get the market? They should give us our money and we will decide what we will do with it with our families," he said.

Mkandla warned that war veterans were dying "like poisoned rats" due to poverty and neglect, accusing the government of betraying the very people who fought for independence.

Meanwhile, another liberation stalwart, Retired Colonel Hamphrey Makuyana, also weighed in, describing the welfare of war veterans as a "national responsibility."

"When the sons and daughters of Zimbabwe took up arms to fight colonial oppression, they did not do so for personal glory," Makuyana said in a statement. "They fought for the dignity, freedom and sovereignty of the motherland. Today, Zimbabwe stands tall as an independent republic not by chance, but because of the sacrifices of thousands of brave men and women. Yet decades after independence, many veterans continue to languish in poverty, neglect and ill health, a situation that dishonours the legacy of our liberation."

Makuyana said it was unacceptable that war veterans were being reduced to vendors and beggars, adding that providing for them was not an act of charity but a constitutional obligation.
"A dignified life for liberation war veterans is a moral debt the nation must pay, not only with pensions and land, but with honour, dignity and integration into national life," he said.

Both Mkandla and Makuyana stressed the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to restore dignity to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for Zimbabwe's independence.
- Southern Eye

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