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Headlines such as the one in the picture above were crafted, and the necessary sensational claims attached to them, with the intention of whipping up the emotions of war veterans ahead of their meeting with President Mugabe

Nicole Hondo Correspondent
The extraordinary meeting between President Robert Mugabe and members of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), as well as other war veterans, scheduled for today, has generated a cornucopia of views with opposition parties and ZANU-PF detractors urging the former liberation war fighters to grab the opportunity to “assert” themselves and perhaps topple the President.

They are tripping over each other, struggling to influence the agenda of the meeting and, in their dreams, are eager to turn this housekeeping meeting into a succession indaba where they would have the President disrobed of his presidency and abandoned by his fellow comrades.

As a result, both the social and private media are awash with unsolicited suggestions, recommendations, prescriptions, advices and lessons to the war veterans on how to remove a sitting President.

In their unmasked desperation, the meeting has become a coveted opportunity to push the President out of power, to bring the evasive regime change to fruition and to finally see the back of the indefatigable nationalist called Robert Mugabe.

ZANU-PF rejects going under the banner of Zimbabwe People First unashamedly threw away all semblance of dignity by calling on the war veterans attending the meeting to “take President Mugabe head on” and some such nonsense.

They were buoyed in their ill-fated attempts at inciting war veterans by a section of the media that relies on sensationalism and blatant lies to stay relevant.

Headlines such as “War vets must take Mugabe head-on”, “Time for war vets to stop Mugabe autocracy” and “Crisis as war vets defy Mugabe”, were crafted, and the necessary sensational claims attached to them, with the intention of whipping up the emotions of war veterans ahead of their meeting with the President.

What these opportunists are hoping for is a situation whereby they rile the war veterans and wind them up so much that they “explode” in the President’s face, much like a mindless dangerous toy would.

It is obvious that these failed politicians, pedestrian critics and opportunists have for long nursed a deep-seated dislike for President Mugabe, which is apparently making them salivate at the imaginary opportunity to unseat him.

What these daydreamers time and again fail to realise is that the people they seek to abuse and take advantage of to effect regime change are not stupid.

That most certainly includes war veterans. And this revered quarter of the country’s citizenry will see through the shameless attempts to use them by outfits such as Zimbabwe People First, MDC-T and other hidden hands, and not allow them to dictate the agenda and tone of their crunch meeting with their patron.

For years, opposition parties and Government’s detractors have tried to mobilise the masses against President Mugabe and ZANU-PF, and they have consistently and dismally failed. By now, they should have realised that President Mugabe and ZANU-PF are still in power because the majority of Zimbabweans, war veterans included, voted for them.

To attempt to turn these same war veterans and other citizens against the President and ZANU-PF is the height of desperation and stupidity.

They are also reluctant to acknowledge the fact that discussion on the tenure of the President is a non-negotiable preserve of the ZANU-PF Congress.

The differences currently obtaining in the ZNLWVA are not unique to this organisation as they are also manifest in other political or non-political groups in the country.

As such, today’s meeting does not warrant the hysterical anticipation of doom being demonstrated by opposition parties. In fact, the country has experienced several polemics among the country’s political players since independence. Notable among these are the ideological differences witnessed as parties emerged from the war of liberation at independence in 1980. There was a wide gulf between the former liberation fighters and members of the Ian Smith regime and it took the visionary doctrine of reconciliation from President Mugabe for the parties to come together and work for the good of the country.

President Mugabe was to successfully deploy the reconciliation policy to quell other internal fissures in the country, with the Unity Accord of 1987, being the most demonstrable and the Global Political Agreement of 2008, that ushered in the Inclusive Government being the most recent.

It is therefore not surprising that the President now wants to employ the same policy to reconcile the wrangling members of the ZNLWVA and address concerns pertaining to their welfare.

It is incontestable that all the previous reconciliation efforts by President Mugabe have brought about the peace and stability that the country is currently enjoying. This might not be clear to the dimwitted opposition leaders and armchair critics whose depraved minds are shrouded in their hatred of President Mugabe.

It is, however, evident to all progressive people of Zimbabwe who value the country’s peace and stability.

Genuine war veterans appreciate the reconciliatory efforts extended to them by President Mugabe and they will not be misled to miss this opportunity to once again unite under his tutelage.

Frenzied efforts by detractors to influence the programme of the ZNLWVA meeting with their patron will be in vain as their exertions to virtually gatecrash the conference should be ignored with the contempt they deserve.

The closing of fissures between ZNLWVA members is for the national good as the war veterans are the backbone of the country’s well-being. Anyone seeking to incite insurgency and subversion from the meeting is an enemy of peace and stability in Zimbabwe.