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More money for war vets
The Standard (Zimbabwe)
June 24, 2007

http://allafrica.com/stories/200706251123.html

IN a move that could be seen as Zanu PF's ploy to secure war veterans' loyalty ahead of next year's elections, the government has increased their monthly pensions to $3 600 000.

The war veterans now join the civil servants who were last week given allowances ranging from $2 million to $4 million. Previously war veterans were getting $250 000.

The secretary for Security and Defence in the Movement for democratic Change (MDC) Giles Mutsekwa said the move was one of Zanu PF's tricks to win the support of the war veterans ahead of the 2008 elections.

"The question is," he said, "for how long can the government sustain that programme securing people's loyalty by pumping money into their pockets? Our economy cannot sustain that as printing more money fuels inflation."

However, the vice-chairperson of the war veterans' board, Dumiso Dabengwa, defended the move saying the amount was "nothing" compared to the minimum wages.

"These are pensions allowances not salaries and they are far below the poverty datum line," Dabengwa said. According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe a family of five requires $5.5 million a month to meet basic requirements.

Economists and critics have constantly questioned the idea of pampering the war veterans when the country's economy is tumbling with an inflation of over 4 500%.

The war veterans have been Mugabe's key allies and many of them benefited from the land reform in 2000.

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