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Mugabe calls on war vets to fight his cause
Basildon Peta, The Mercury (SA)
May 01, 2007

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_SADC&set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=vn20070501011434671C781153

Harare - Zimbabwe's militant war veterans, staunch supporters of President Robert Mugabe, have been formally integrated into Zimbabwe's army as the ruling Zanu-PF party prepares for elections in 2008.

The war veterans have helped Mugabe win the past three general elections through a sustained campaign of violence against the opposition, leading to Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth in 2003.

Their constitution into a formal reserve force has sent shivers down the spines of members of the opposition, as the war veterans will now get official state funding. In the past, such funding by the government was covert.

The reorganisation of the war veterans has been published in the Government Gazette under the Defence (War Veterans' Reserve) Regulations 2007.

"There is hereby established a reserve force of the army to be known as the war veterans' reserve," said the gazette. "The war veterans' reserve shall consist of members of the war veterans from a register of the war veterans compiled in terms of the War Veterans Regulations of 1997... who volunteer to serve in the war veterans' reserve and are accepted into the reserve by the commander," it added.

There would be two classes of war veterans, the first consisting of members below 50 years old who could be deployed into active military duty and could undergo training if the commander of the army decided so. Those older than 50 years "can be deployed for such duties not requiring physical military training as the commander may determine", according to the gazette.

It said members of the reserve force could be issued with "such arms, clothing and equipment as his or her duties require". They will also benefit from travel and medical expenses.

Opposition spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said it was no coincidence that the government had taken this move as the country's political players began to gear up for general elections next year. He said it was clear that Mugabe was "oiling all the institutions of violence" that he "badly needed" to disadvantage the opposition.

When the police went on the rampage in April, severely beating up opposition leaders and leaving them injured in full view of the world, Mugabe publicly defended their actions and warned the opposition that more was coming. The war veterans first gained notoriety in 1997 when they demanded to be paid large sums of money as compensation for their participation in the 1970s independence war.

The unbudgeted payments of more than R1-billion to the 50 000-plus veterans sparked the long slide of the Zimbabwe dollar and eventually Zimbabwe's economic collapse.

The veterans have vowed to return to war if the opposition ever wins elections in Zimbabwe. They have also vowed never to salute anyone who did not fight in the liberation war, a reference to MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who did not participate in the liberation struggle.

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