War vets ditch Zanu-PF

Several war veterans aligned to the ruling Zanu-PF have dumped the Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association, claiming the group is now firmly in the pocket of the ruling party ‘to a point of failing to see the shortfalls of the country's leaders’. New Zimbabwe reports that they have announced the formation of a new association, Mutsvangwa, ‘which will play a watchdog role over the Zanu-PF led government’. ‘Our relationship can reach antagonistic stages where, as war veterans, we might feel the interests of the nation might be a threat and we begin to oppose, very vehemently, the political leadership and interests of political parties,’ said spokesperson Zvakanyorwa Sadomba. His colleague Karen Kazingizi said the reputation of the liberators has become ‘tainted by cases of gross human rights violations committed to please politicians’. ‘Those who are implicated in the 2008 cases where they would cut hands and arms off people should be brought before courts because that is not what we trained for and they know it. We did not remove a corrupt and racist regime to place a similar one,’ she added.