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Bulawayo Bureau
War veterans in Bulawayo yesterday slammed former president Mr Robert Mugabe for being a sell-out after aligning with the MDC-Alliance in the just-ended harmonised elections.

Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) Bulawayo provincial treasurer Cde Lazarus Nyoni compared Mr Mugabe to the biblical Judas Iscariot for going to bed with the opposition.

Cde Nyoni was addressing mourners during the burial of liberation war heroine Cde Ketty Dube at the Provincial Heroes Acre in Nkulumane suburb.

Mr Mugabe on Sunday last week said he would vote for the opposition MDC-Alliance in the harmonised elections.

“The highest level of deception is when a once respected liberation war fighter comes out and announces that he is voting for the MDC-Alliance, the same party he used to chant slogans against,” said Cde Nyoni.

“Our own people used to hear stories of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal and they thought it’s a fairy tale.”

Cde Nyoni said Mr Mugabe spent decades denouncing the MDC, but in a split second they have become strange bed fellows.

He said war veterans should remain principled and desist from being “swept away by the winds”.

The war veterans warned youths against following in the footsteps of “such sell-outs’’ just because of money. Zanu-PF Bulawayo secretary for administration Cde Elifasi Mashaba hailed Cde Dube for her consistency in serving the party and called on other cadres to remain loyal to Zanu-PF.

“She was a devoted war veteran and she never changed,” he said. “I salute her for sacrificing for the nation of Zimbabwe and for our province. She remained loyal to Zanu-PF till today and we encourage all war veterans to remain firm and unshaken.’’

Cde Dube, known as Sikhangezele Dube during the liberation war, was born on October 25, 1964 and died on July 29, 2018.

At the height of the liberation struggle, she crossed into Botswana to join the liberation war.

She arrived in Francistown and was transferred to Pikwe, where they were flown to Victory Camp (VC) for a year. She was later sent to Mkushi Girls Training Camp in Zambia. Cde Dube survived the bombing of the camp by Rhodesian Forces on the 19th of October 1978 and, she, together with other liberation war fighters, were subsequently scattered to Kafue and Solwezi in Zambia.