ANGRY ZIMBABWE WAR VETERANS yesterday retaliated against President Robert Mugabe’s airport statement in which he said the War Vets are just an affiliate organisation that does not own or control the party.
Speaking ahead of their crunch meeting on Thursday, the war vets warned that Mugabe was misleading himself into believing Zanu PF was bigger than them insisting that Zanu PF and Zapu including their military wings ZANLA and ZIPRA were products of war veterans.
War Vets spokesperson Douglas Mahiya said attempts by Mugabe to diminish their position in the party will not succeed.
“We gave birth to Zanu PF and we are the owners of the party,” he said.
Mugabe is planning to use the Thursday meeting as a platform to discipline war vets who have openly opposed the party expulsions targeting Team Lacoste supporters.
Mahiya has made it clear that war vets and Zanu PF are one and same thing and they will not follow orders from fringe party supporters.
“The people who were addressed by the President are supporters of the party, but we are the owners of Zanu PF. You can’t separate us from Zanu PF,”he said.
Mahiya said as long as their concerns were not addressed, they will continue to be a thorn in Zanu PF’s side.
“So leaders may try to tell us this and that, but as long as we don’t solve the problems of the war veterans, we are not going anywhere,” he said.
War veterans are demanding a quick and swift disbandment of the G40 faction, strongly believed to be led by First Grace Mugabe.
On the other hand they are also believed to be the power behind Team Lacoste, another Zanu PF faction believed to be supporting VP Emmerson Mnangagwa to be next President of Zanu PF and Zimbabwe.
