The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) has expressed relief at Christopher Mutsvangwa’s dismissal describing him as a non-performer, a divisive leader, and someone who consistently snubbed their requests for meetings regarding their welfare.
Mutsvangwa was fired as the Minister of Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Affairs on Saturday by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, without any reasons given for his dismissal.
However, ZNLWVA chairperson, Andrease Ethan Mathibela, said Mutsvangwa’s performance was abysmal, both as the association chairperson and later as the minister. He referred to him as a “pothole” that needed removal.
Mathibela stated that instead of addressing war veterans’ welfare issues, Mutsvangwa was more interested in opposition politics and its leader, Nelson Chamisa.
“We had high expectations from that appointment,” Mathibela said at the Bulawayo Media Centre on Monday.
“Since there were so many issues we wanted the government to address, we assumed being the minister would have helped move things forward. We were extremely disappointed that instead of engaging with us, the minister disengaged and even divided us through the association chair.”
Mathibela revealed that when the Cabinet was reappointed, he wrote a congratulatory letter to Mutsvangwa and other ministers, hoping to collaborate. However, the former war veterans minister ignored them.
“We wanted to collaborate and find ways of working together,” Mathibela said. “We don’t believe we’re special people, but history shows we contributed positively to change for previously marginalized Africans. We are a constituency willing to work with anyone to help this country prosper.”
However, after Mutsvangwa’s appointment, he did not respond to ZNLWVA’s requests to set a meeting and discuss their roadmap.
“Last year, during our congress, we planned out what we wanted to achieve in 2024,” Mathibela said. “We wanted to engage him and other ministries to address some of the veterans’ challenges. I called him personally, but he ignored my calls. I even texted him, but there was no response.”
As a minister, Mutsvangwa’s role was to unite war veterans, according to Mathibela. However, instead of fulfilling this “noble gesture,” he was allegedly “more focused on Chamisa.”
“Mutsvangwa was supposed to address our welfare,” Mathibela said. “Without that kind of leadership to guide us, we get worried. It’s been 43 years, but what we have inherited is just a sense of perceived freedom. True freedom isn’t just walking around without mugging; it’s having land ownership, a house, and disposable income.”
He acknowledged that war veterans volunteered for the armed struggle but lamented how their “colleagues were now greedy” and plundered Zimbabwe, a country with resources that could have made it the envy of others.
“We cautiously celebrate Mutsvangwa’s dismissal,” Mathibela said. “He couldn’t deliver. We don’t care about the reasons, but the president has removed a pothole. We still think we can drive, but there are many potholes left.”
“Honestly, the president is also surrounded by people who don’t mean well for our country,” he continued, providing examples of individuals he believes benefit disproportionately from the country’s resources based on their surname and region.
He questioned why war veterans had fought if young people were now fleeing the country as economic refugees, even to the former coloniser.
“It’s a sad state of affairs,” said the chairperson passionately. “There are selfish, greedy, and tribalistic individuals. We are speaking out with pain because this is the reality on the ground.”
Mathibela also revealed that when Mutsvangwa was initially appointed ZNLWVA chairperson, he overstayed his term unconstitutionally by ten years.
“He wasn’t supposed to run for ten years, but he did. He didn’t try to explain his plans to us or even meet with us after we appointed him. He pursued partisan politics, and the last we heard was when he became a special advisor to the president,” Mathibela said.
“The most painful thing is that it went on for ten years beyond his mandate. We were surprised that the appointer rewarded a non-performer in the ministry of war veterans, but we gave him the benefit of the doubt. We are not surprised about his dismissal because here we are, poor and worse off than before independence.”
Mathibela concluded by stating that his reaction reflects the sentiments of many war veterans. He mentioned receiving numerous calls, even from some who previously supported Mutsvangwa, celebrating his dismissal.
