Government calls off veterans

The Zimbabwean government on Wednesday called an immediate halt to invasions of private businesses by self-styled war veterans, news reports said. “This should cease forthwith as it constitutes the crimes of kidnapping and extortion,” Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo was quoted as saying. So-far, the police have been singularly ineffective in halting the scores of urban raids by ruling party militants which began in early April, further threatening Zimbabwe’s already ailing economy. The invasions have targeted factories, company offices and aid agencies on the pretext of solving labour disputes. The veterans have used the threat of physical violence to force company managers to make large cash payouts, ostensibly on behalf of laid off workers. The campaign, aimed at undermining the opposition-linked labour unions and punishing employers deemed supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has led to international protest and threats of an aid freeze by Western governments. Companies have also quietly closed their doors and left Zimbabwe, after bosses were dragged before kangaroo courts at ZANU-PF headquarters in Harare. On Tuesday, a Danish-owned chewing gum factory, one of the first private firms to invest in Zimbabwe after independence, retrenched 150 workers citing interference by the veterans, the ‘Daily News’ reported. Company chairman Jorgen Mogensen said the factory gates would remain locked until the security of workers was assured. According to economist John Robertson, a total of 250 companies and organisations have been raided with money “extracted”. In one case, a subsidiary of a Western electronics firm paid out the equivalent of US $218,000 as a fine for workers it had retrenched. “As a result the company is in grave difficulties,” Robertson said. Manufacturing production in Zimbabwe reportedly fell by 10 percent last year - lower than at independence - and is expected to drop still further this year, partly as a consequence of the disruption caused by the veterans. Meanwhile, some analysts are concerned over the government’s ability to reign in its supporters. Roberston noted that with the veterans claiming a “commission” on the money they extorted, “it has suddenly become a very lucrative source of income” and they were “strongly motivated to keep going”.