Share & more
Veterans of Zimbabwe’s independence struggle have threatened to go back to war and declare a military government if the ruling ZANU-PF of President Robert Mugabe loses parliamentary elections scheduled next month, media reports said on Thursday.
Quoting Andrew Ndlovu of the War Veterans Association, the reports said if the opposition won the elections a military government would be installed for five years “to set things straight”. Ndlovu reportedly said: “We will never allow people who oppressed us to come to power. It means we will go back to the bush. We will declare a military government.”
Ndlovu’s comments follow the trouncing of ZANU-PF in the recent referendum on a draft constitution that proposed to increase Mugabe’s executive powers and grant the state the right to seize white-owned farms without paying compensation.
The war veterans, shortly after the referendum, started a mass invasion of white-owned farms, an action Mugabe publicly supported.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions