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Veterans disgusted by growing post-election violence
ZimbabweJournalists.com
April 28, 2008

Senior war veterans and former senior commanders of the national liberation forces, have today voiced their concern at the on-going political violence, especially within most rural communities that voted for the opposition MDC in last month's elections.

In a statement released today, Wilfred Mhanda, aka Dzinashe Machingua, and Happyson Nenji (Webster Gwauya), expressed their utter disgust and outrage at the unmitigated reign of terror currently visiting unarmed rural people in the country.

"The perpetrators of the orgy of violence are the state security forces themselves complemented by non-state actors in the form of rogue war veterans, youth militia and Zanu PF enthusiasts," the two repsected war veterans said.

Mhanda, a former commander of the Zanla forces during the liberation struggle and based in Mozambique, is hated and feared by President Robert Mugabe ever since he was arrested together with other Zanu PF chiefs at the height of the struggle for independence.

"We pointed out in our statement of 7th April, that the illegal Mugabe regime was mobilizing forces of reaction to descend on the defenceless people of Zimbabwe as retribution for voting for change," read their statement. "Sadly, and most ominously this observation has now been borne by facts on the ground. Both the rural and urban folk have been on the receiving end of this wanton state sponsored reign of terror."

Command structures for the campaign of violence have been established and are now fully operational, particularly in the rural areas where hundreds are fleeing their homes and now leaving in total fear and abject poverty.

"Mugabe's illegitimate and repressive rule has now degenerated into a fascist dictatorship reminiscent of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge reign of terror in Cambadia.

"It is nauseating and most reprehensible for the international community and international news agencies to continue to refer to Robert Mugabe as the president of Zimbabwe and to the majority party, the Movement for Democratic Change(MDC) as the opposition party.

"Mugabe's is an illegitimate and illegal regime that has wrought havoc and untold suffering on the people of Zimbabwe. He has stolen an election in broad daylight and undermined the democratic values upon which SADC, the African Union and the United Nations stand."

The two war veterans continued: "It is a crime against humanity to wage war against defenceless civilians and an abomination for former liberation fighters to indulge in retributive atrocities and human rights abuses against the very people they fought to liberate."

It is, they said, most reprehensible and disgusting in the extreme for them to inflict harm and injury on innocent civilians for the sole purpose of perpetrating Mugabe's evil rule.

"Tyrant Mugabe was resoundingly rejected by the people of Zimbabwe in the March 29, 2008 harmonised elections. It is the responsibility and constitutional mandate of the state security forces to safeguard and protect the people and not to become their erstwhile persecutors.

We urge all political parties, the opposition ZANU PF included, the entirety of civil society and all democratic forces within and outside Zimbabwe, the SADC heads of state, the African Union and the United Nations to take a principled stand and condemn the current reign of terror against the people.

"The brutal violence militates against the development of democracy in Zimbabwe and undermines all the democratic freedoms enshrined in our Constitution. Most regrettably, this sad development is a direct consequence of the incomprehensible failure by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to discharge its constitutional mandate of releasing the results of the 29 March 2008 presidential elections expeditiously as required by law."

The presidential vote result is expected sometime this week with candidates being at last called by ZEC to verify ballots.

Furthermore, this reign of terror has to be viewed against the reckless and irresponsible statements by some service chiefs in the run up to the 29 March 2008 elections to the effect that they would not salute anybody else as head of state other than Robert Mugabe. Those statements are clearly treasonous and have helped stoke up the current tensions. We call upon all the service chiefs to bring a stop to the reign of terror against the people forthwith. We call on you General Constantine Chiwenga, the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces; Commissioner General of Police Augustine Chihuri; Director General of the Central Intelligence Organisation Happyton Bonyongwe; Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, Lt General Phillip Valerio Sibanda; Commissioner of Prisons, Rtd Mj General Zimonde; Chief of the Zimbabwe Airforce Air Marshal Perence Shiri to bring an end to the peoples suffering at the hands of your forces.

The whole world has been made to believe that it is you the service chiefs who are preventing the tyrant Mugabe from conceding defeat in the 29 March 2008 election; that its is you propping up the illegal regime against the will of the people of Zimbabwe. It is high time you spelt out your unequivocal position regarding the outcome of the 29 March 2008 presidential election. It is in your own personal interest and that of the nation to take a clear unambiguous position on this matter of paramount importance to the nation.

Surely you should not hold the nation to ransom through your blind obedience to a dictator whose hands drip with our people's blood. Your salaries, perks and benefits are courtesy of the taxpayer and not Robert Mugabe or the RBZ governor Gideon Gono. You are public servants who should place the national interest above petty loyalties to a dictator. Please be reminded that we together took up arms together to liberate this country and its people from the racist settlerist colonial regime and not to install a tinpot dictator who rides roughshod over the people's will. The ball is in your court. Please take heed of this wise counsel before its too late and ignore it at your own peril.

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