Zimbabwe war veterans ‘want more’

HARARE – War veterans in Zimbabwe want 100% local ownership of all resources, it was reported yesterday.

Parliament has already passed a controversial law to make it mandatory for foreign-owned companies and mines to hand over a 51% stake to black business people in a move that economists warn will drive away many desperately-needed overseas investors. But now President Robert Mugabe’s most loyal supporters, veterans of the 1970s war for independence from white minority rule, want more, the state-controlled Herald daily reported.Jabulani Sibanda, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association claimed the 83-year-old Mugabe was under attack.We are supporting our president because he has stepped forward in redeeming what is ours, Sibanda told reporters at a Harare hotel last week.We want to control 100% of our resources, he added, claiming war veterans were not happy that locals were restricted to a 51% share of foreign businesses.Mugabe’s once-prosperous Zimbabwe sank rapidly into economic decline after the longtime strongman launched a programme of white land seizures in 2000.Agricultural production has since dropped by more than 40%.Evictions of the few remaining white farmers are continuing as more than three million Zimbabweans face food shortages.Sapa-dpaBut now President Robert Mugabe’s most loyal supporters, veterans of the 1970s war for independence from white minority rule, want more, the state-controlled Herald daily reported.Jabulani Sibanda, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association claimed the 83-year-old Mugabe was under attack.We are supporting our president because he has stepped forward in redeeming what is ours, Sibanda told reporters at a Harare hotel last week.We want to control 100% of our resources, he added, claiming war veterans were not happy that locals were restricted to a 51% share of foreign businesses.Mugabe’s once-prosperous Zimbabwe sank rapidly into economic decline after the longtime strongman launched a programme of white land seizures in 2000.Agricultural production has since dropped by more than 40%.Evictions of the few remaining white farmers are continuing as more than three million Zimbabweans face food shortages.Sapa-dpa