Squabbling war vets defy Mugabe

Squabbling war veterans defy Mugabe
18/03/2010 00:00:00 by Lebo Nkatazo Defiant ... A sketch of Joseph Chinotimba Related Stories

A Renegade group of war veterans seeking to topple their leader Jabulani Sibanda announced they had quit on Thursday, defying President Robert Mugabe’s call to stop squabbling.

Sibanda’s deputy Joseph Chinotimba said 11 of the 16 executive members had quit “Sibanda’s executive, but not the association”.

The move appeared aimed at pre-empting Sibanda’s plan to call elections this weekend. The Zimbabwe National War Veterans’ Association constitution states that when 11 members of the executive resign, an interim leadership must take over and prepare for elections.

Chinotimba said if Sibanda proceeds to order elections this weekend, he “will be in for it”.

Chinotimba said: “We have resigned from Jabu’s executive, but we have not resigned from the association. We can’t have a kitchen cabinet in the association.

“When we said we had fired Jabu, we were not joking. There must be an interim to organise the election. If he goes ahead with the elections, he will be in for it.”

Two weeks ago, Mugabe, who is also the association’s patron, said ex-combatants should stop fighting.

“They should all be silent and go to a meeting and elect a leadership at congress," said Mugabe.

The Znlwa has been split into three camps, one led by Chinotimba, the other by Sibanda and a third under ... ...

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