Documentation for War Vets
July 24, 1997
The Guardian
PROTESTING Zimbabwean war veterans yesterday stayed away from the opening of a conference in the capital, Harare, aimed at encouraging US firms to invest in Africa, after the government offered them cheques worth pounds 10,000. On Tuesday the veterans, demanding back-pay from President Robert Mugabe, surrounded the conference centre, chanting "We want Mugabe!" and "It is time he paid us!"
April 21, 2000
Zimbabwe Independent
Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officers have been deployed to direct farm invasions by Zanu PF supporters and war veterans, ...The ex-combatants, .. now have "commanders" the ZNA appointed by government to coordinate supplies for the ex-combatants who have killed two farmers so far.
Many more have been assaulted. Sources told the Independent that the military officers were responsible for co-ordinating logistics to ensure that there was reliable food and other essential supplies.
This, sources said, explained the use of AK-47 assault rifles and other automatic weapons by those invading farms and police inertia in reacting to reported instances of violence and murder on the farms.
May 5, 2000
Zimbabwe Independent
Government militias comprising war veterans and Zanu PF supporters who have invaded about 1 000 commercial farms ...are now forcing farmers to provide them with basic supplies to enable them to remain on farms...The new demands by war veterans came as the campaign of terror by Zanu PF supporters spread from the rural hinterland to urban townships. ...It emerged this week that war veterans were now demanding logistical support from farmers because their $ 20 million slush fund provided by government has been exhausted.
May 19, 2000
Zimbabwe Independent
Yes Zanu PF's campaign machine is being oiled by blood.
Murder and anarchy are now being funded by the state. ..War veterans, real and self-proclaimed, are on a warpath doing the physical side of the campaign. ..War veterans are moving around farms murdering, assaulting and raping people.
Some of the so-called war veterans have been seen carrying AK rifles yet they do not even have a decent pair of shoes. ...The farm invasions had a double function - first, to punish the whites for siding with the enemy, MDC, and second to appease the masses who were yet to reap the benefits of Independence.
May 25, 2000
The Independent
president of the Commercial Farmers Union, complained that in spite of an agreement by the war veterans on 19 April to halt invasions and violence, more than 417 farms have been invaded.
He said the invasions would damage the country's economy
June 15, 2000
The Times
thugs from the ruling Zanu (PF) party and "war veterans" are deliberately stepping up their intimidation. Across the country, villagers are being silenced, dissident farm workers raped, beaten and threatened, opposition candidates are being killed and vigilantes armed with clubs and knives are preventing people attending rallies called by the Movement for Democratic Change.
June 20, 2000
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU(PF) party has established a presence of about 12,000 party vigilantes on about 1,000 white-owned farms ahead of parliamentary elections at the weekend, the farm union said Tuesday.
The Commercial Farmers' Union ..It recorded 2,400 assaults on farmers and farm workers, and 430 of the victims had to be treated in hospital. Five farmers have been shot dead, three of them in military-style attacks and abductions by self-styled guerrilla war veterans leading the campaign.
June 30, 2000
Africa News
War veterans and Zanu PF supporters this week descended on farms in Mashonaland East giving farmers until Sunday to leave the land or face the wrath of the militias. In Mashonaland Central farmers said Zanu PF supporters and war veterans were threatening to unleash hit squads against farmers suspected of having supported the Movement for Democratic Change in last weekend's election
The official said the CFU had yesterday received reports of intimidation in Marondera East commercial farming area where bands of Zanu PF supporters and war veterans have moved from farm to farm
In Raffingora, Mvurwi and Concession, the terror gangs are said to have visited farms threatening those they accuse of having voted for the opposition MDC.
May 4, 2001
Africa News
Pro-government militias, which claim to be veterans of Zimbabwe's independence war, last week threatened to attack foreign missions they perceived to be backing the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Aug. 10, 2001
Business Day
HARARE - Violence swept through Chinhoyi, 100km northwest of Harare, ....On Wednesday, Gwaka said he could not release them because he feared they would attacked by government militia. ... Union sources said some farmers sought refuge in Harare while others went to other farms which had not yet been attacked by war veterans and other government militia.
Aug. 20, 2001
The Guardian
Up to 40 people were murdered in political violence during the run-up to the June 2000 parliamentary election,...
Torture, including beatings, electric shocks and even mock drownings, is widespread, committed by the police, the self-styled war veterans or by militants of the ruling Zanu-PF party.
Some farm workers on occupied land have been burned out of their homes which have then been looted. ... Opposition sympathisers were then beaten, or worse, as a warning to others.
The police have been purged of those suspected of disloyalty to the regime and are in effect another Zanu-PF militia. ..
War veterans have taken their place, earned rapid promotion and, in many rural areas, taken control of police stations in villages. The force is then used to harass and detain opposition supporters, while ruling party activists get away with intimidation, assault, and even murder
March 8, 2002
Africa News
Party militias led by veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war have been in the forefront of the violence, though farm workers and opposition supporters have also retaliated on occasion. The Human Rights Watch report, researched in 2001, documents how these militia assaulted farm owners, farm workers, and residents of rural areas surrounding commercial farmland. The report says that the police did almost nothing to stop the violence
April 24, 2002
Africa News
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's militia of so-called guerrilla war veterans are shifting their campaign of lawless seizures of white-owned farms to property owned by the country's small Asian community, the state press reported.
...
His appearances in farming district around the country have been followed by massive looting, against which police have taken no action.
Over 150 farmers have been forced off their farms since flawed presidential elections last month, where war veterans also played the main role in the wave of violent intimidation against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
Nov. 3, 2002
Africa News
WAR veterans, riding high after the Zanu PF victory in the Insiza by-election last week, have turned their guns on Kuwadzana, where another by-election ...
The war veterans and their equally potent allies, the government-sponsored youth militia unleashed a reign of terror in Insiza to ensure a victory which was later interpreted by the establishment to mean that the tide was turning against the MDC which had held the seat prior to the death of George Ndlovu last year
March 28, 2008
The Sunday Times (London)
Despite the SADC order, war vets turned up only two weeks ago at the Freeths' and started a fire in their car port before spending the night chanting and singing. When Ben Freeth showed them the order and asked them to move off, the leader replied: "I am SADC. You are greedy, greedy, greedy and you must go back to your own country."
April 8, 2008
The Guardian
Zanu-PF militia and war veterans invaded more white-owned farms yesterday after Mugabe urged Zimbabweans to "protect their land from former colonisers" and said they could not afford to "retreat in the battle for land". The Commercial Farmers Union yesterday accused the government of leading an "apartheid" campaign against white farmers.
April 11, 2008
The Irish Times
ZIMBABWE: REPORTS CONTINUE to emerge from Zimbabwe of seizures of land from white farmers by groups of so-called "war veterans" with the apparently tacit encouragement of the government.
April 17, 2008
BBC Monitoring Africa – Political, Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
Suspected war veterans and Zanu PF [Zimbabwe African national Union Patriotic Front] militia have revived liberation struggle night vigils (pungwes) in Mashonaland East as politically-motivated violence spreads across the country to coerce the electorate to vote for President Robert Mugabe in the anticipated presidential run-off against the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai.
March 10, 2010
SW Radio Africa (London)
High Court Judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu reserved his decision to 31st March, on whether or not Roy Bennett should be acquitted. (…) He (Bennett) spent a year in prison for pushing a ZANU PF Minister in parliament after being insulted during an argument. Prior to this his commercial farm in the Chimanimani area was invaded by the then ZANU PF led government. His farm workers were killed, raped and beaten by so called war vets and soldiers. Bennett's wife suffered a miscarriage during this violent period at the farm.
May 25, 2010
SW Radio Africa (London)
The first all-stakeholders conference in Harare last year was disrupted by ZANU PF youths and war vets who invaded the venue, chanting slogans and threatening a repeat of the bloody violence that marred the June 2008 election.
Aug. 11, 2010
SW Radio Africa (London)
War vets leader Jabulani Sibanda continues his tour of terror in the Masvingo Province, targeting people who want to speak freely during the ongoing constitutional outreach. On Wednesday Newsreel spoke to a councilor in Zaka who told us Sibanda is liaising with local chiefs to identify people who are not in favour of the ZANU PF backed Kariba Draft constitution. Sibanda, who has made a political career out of terrorizing and torturing MDC supporters, has now been camped in Masvingo for over 3 weeks, moving from one constituency to another.
Nov. 9, 2010
SW Radio Africa (London)
ZANU PF's desperate election strategy once again came to the fore when between 300 to 500 soldiers marched in support of Robert Mugabe in the Mucheke suburb of Masvingo on Sunday.(…) ZANU PF structures are actually in a shambles and their support has shifted to almost nothing.' He added that the party was once again using the army, police, CIO and war vets to try and scare people into supporting ZANU PF. One of the slogans chanted by the soldiers was, 'Ukadenha gamba redu watanga hondo' - 'Provoke a hero, and you have started a war.'
Nov. 16, 2010
BBC Monitoring Africa – Political, Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
Education Minister and Senator David Coltart is facing threats by war vets, which he has said are equally a threat to the MDC [Movement for Democratic Change] and the entire unity government.
Nov. 16, 2010
SW Radio Africa (London)
Meanwhile Bulawayo Agenda have reported that war vets in the Bule area of Tsholotsho are making it difficult for the local MDC-M councillor to perform his duties. The war vets are disrupting meetings called by the councilor, even though they hold their own meetings in the area.
Jan. 27, 2011
SW Radio Africa (London)
In the Midlands, war vets and youth militia, under the direction of the ZANU PF MP for Gokwe Central Dorothy Mhangami, reportedly force marched villagers to a rally at Gokwe Centre on Tuesday. According to the Zimbabwe Peace Project, Mhangami told the villagers to come back with their national identity cards on January 31st and sign for the removal of sanctions. She said she was not expecting less than 3,000 signatures from her constituency.
March 25, 2011
SW Radio Africa (London)
A group of war vets is reported to have besieged the offices of Finance Minister Tendai Biti on Monday and Wednesday. Their threatening presence and persistence finally got Biti to meet with their representatives on Thursday and discuss their demands.
April 18, 2012
SW Radio Africa (London)
Most of the country's white commercial farmers were violently evicted by ZANU PF thugs and war vets, doing the bidding for top military and ZANU PF officials, who also evicted the farm workers and their families. This has contributed to food shortages which ZANU PF uses as political weapon against the MDC formations.
May 2, 2012
SW Radio Africa (London)
ZANU PF's reliance on violence and intimidation was displayed on Monday when suspected war vets and party militia besieged the offices of Finance Minister Tendai Biti, threatening to beat him up for allegedly not respecting Mugabe.
Nov. 5, 2012
SW Radio Africa (London)
His four-hectare farm at Mutanda resettlement scheme was last week taken over by Muringani, a ZANU PF activist who masquerades as a war vet. Maramba said Muringani was being used by certain individuals out to fix him for being MDC-T.
Dec. 14, 2012
SW Radio Africa (London)
The ZDF (Zimbabwean Defence Forces) commander made this pronouncement while addressing over 800 war vets at One Brigade Headquarters in Bulawayo three weeks ago. Our correspondent in Bulawayo, Lionel Saungweme, told us most of the war vets who attended the meeting belonged to ZIPRA, the former armed wing of ZAPU.
Dec. 15, 2012
BBC Monitoring Africa – Political, Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
In an apparent signal that election fever is heating up, Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga recently promised to pay the war vets $2,000 a month between January and September next year.
March 4, 2013
BBC Monitoring Africa
War veterans in Bindura have threatened unspecified action against people who will not vote for Zanu PF in the forthcoming elections.
