VETERANS of the 1970s liberation struggle who were successfully vetted in a recent exercise are bitter over government delays in compensating them for their role during the war.
A war veteran who was part of the exercise who declined to be named told NewsDay that government should have started paying compensation to successfully vetted former combatants if it was serious about the issue.
This comes after Veterans of the Liberation Struggle deputy minister Monica Mavhunga said the vetting process had to continue with an estimated 100 000 war collaborators and detainees left out during the last vetting exercise.
Mavhunga said they were anticipating the compensation funds to be included in the 2024 national budget.
“It is a circus. They should pay those who are already vetted (because) they cannot be held to ransom. Even during the war, people never crossed the borders in one day, trained one time and fought the Rhodesians once,” the war veteran said.
“It was an on-going military process. They should not take comrades for granted, the vetting process was done by the former ministry.”
Zanu PF politburo member Headman Moyo supported the idea of clearing those who have already been vetted.
“They are right, the issue of changing goal posts is not right, this is affecting us big time in our elections,” Moyo said in an interview yesterday.
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Former Binga South parliamentary candidate Challenge Phiri (Zanu PF) said the committee responsible should strive to clear the backlog.
“I have only been involved in assisting those who needed to be vetted with information and transport. What it means now is that there are two groups, those who have been vetted have their information ready to be submitted and cleared, those who have not their information need to be collected,” he said.
Defence, Home Affairs, Veterans of the Liberation Struggle and Security Parliamentary Portfolio Committee chairperson Albert Nguluvhe refused to comment on the matter.
War collaborators and detainees did not benefit from the ZWL$50 000 gratuity paid to each war veteran in 1997.
According to the government, at least 150 000 war collaborators and ex-detainees have been vetted to date and are awaiting compensation.
