FORMER Vice-President Joice Mujuru looted millions of dollars earmarked for a telecommunications company for war veterans and gave some of the money to fugitive businessman James Makamba and Kingdom Bank founder Nigel Chanakira who set up a telecommunications company and a bank respectively at the expense of the welfare of the freedom fighters.
The startling revelations were made by the chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNWLA), Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa, in Gweru yesterday.
Addressing thousands of war veterans who thronged the Zanu-PF conference centre, Cde Mutsvangwa, the recently appointed Minister of War Veterans who is going around the country meeting his constituency, said war veterans were used to facilitate the looting of funds from the Zimbabwe Ex-Combatants Company (Zexcom) by the former VP.
Zexcom was supposed to be the ZNWLA investment fund in which most members had invested gratuities received in 1997.
“Joice Mujuru looted funds from Zexcom,” said Cde Mutsvangwa adding, “She used some of our members to fleece the company and gave that money to Makamba and Chanakira who started a bank and a telecommunications company at the expense of war veterans.
“Mujuru gave Makamba our licence and he used money raised by war veterans to start that company.”
Makamba is a director of Telecel Zimbabwe – a mobile phone operator.
Cde Mutsvangwa said he was fired by the then Vice President as a director in the Transport and Telecommunications ministry.
He said Mujuru enriched her relatives and friends while war veterans suffered.
“I was also fired from Harare province by her cabal, an indication that Gamatox always had the village ideology,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.
He said he was a different chairperson, different from expelled Jabulani Sibanda.
Cde Mutsvangwa said Sibanda had become a chairman for hire as he was being hired by members aligned to Mujuru to do their dirty work.
“Sibanda was now a chairman for hire. He no longer had the will of the war veterans at heart. He was all over the country, in rural areas, campaigning for provincial chairpersons we later deposed. Sibanda was being used by Teurai (Mujuru) and her cabal and it was now clear that he was now for hire,” he said.
Cde Mutsvangwa said Sibanda was now a constituency agent who forgot that he had a role to play in protecting the President as he was the leader of the war veterans.
He reiterated that Mujuru did not shoot down a Rhodesian Airforce helicopter during the liberation war describing her as a liar.
Cde Mutsvangwa said true war veterans were not about self praise.
He said after the cleansing of the party following the 6th National People’s Congress last December, it was high time the war veterans led in the economic development of the country.
The war veterans’ leader also took a swipe at Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa for disrespecting VP Phelekezela Mphoko after his appointment by President Robert Mugabe.
He said as war veterans they had respect for Dabengwa whom they relate to as their commander.
“As our commander, as my commander, Dabengwa shouldn’t disrespect our VP. Does he have a register of the people who were in the armed struggle? Does he know each and everyone of us? We appeal to him to respect our leaders. We will not criticise him in public because he is our leader,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.
