Source: Govt to pamper war collaborators – NewsDay Zimbabwe August 1, 2019
GOVERNMENT is drafting a law to legalise compensation and benefits for the restive war collaborators, who have not been rewarded for their role in the liberation struggle.
BY BRENNA MATENDERE
Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri made the revelations on Saturday at a “thank you” rally held for President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Gweru.
“We are in the process of putting together a Bill that will legalise compensation of the war collaborators. Cabinet has already approved the idea and asked us to come up with a Bill. At the moment, we have put together the principles of the Bill and are now working on the other issues that should be in the Bill,” she said.
The Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators Association is an arm of the ruling Zanu PF party and its members have been consistent in supporting the party during elections.Muchinguri, who is also the Zanu PF chairperson, said government would be done with the Bill in about a month’s time.
“Once we are done drafting the Bill, we will take it to the Cabinet committee on legislation, which will work on it and that can take about two weeks. The committee will then send it back to Cabinet for approval, then we take it to Parliament. So, all in all, we must be having the Bill in a month’s time,” she said, much to the delight of the war collaborators.”
Muchinguri also revealed that government had resolved to give farms and mines to the war collaborators.
“We know that there are some war collaborators who got farms, but we also have others who did not. So, we are looking for farms to give to those that did not get them in the past,” she said.
“The farms could differ in sizes; some will be 1 000 hectares and others 3 000 hectares and so forth. We are also saying it is time our war collaborators to get mines. Vetting of the war collaborators is going to be done very soon.”Daniel Molokele, the MDC spokesperson, said government must be careful in its approach on gratuities for war collaborators.
“We are not against social packages being done for war collaborators. Proper consultations need to be done. We also need to talk about the budget. Where will the money come from since this is a time when the economy is under heavy pressure?” he asked.
“We need to be careful in having such large expenditures. So, the issue is about how practical it is in these circumstances. That is something the minister needs to be careful of and give serious consideration.”
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