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Talent Chimutambgi and Nesia Mhaka
The Zimbabwe Liberation War Collaborators Association (Ziliwaco) has expressed disquiet over the utterances by MDC-Alliance MP Lindiwe Maphosa, who said they were not worthy of gratuities.

Ziliwaco said the utterances denigrated those who participated in the liberation war.

Ms Maphosa last week said war collaborators were not worthy of gratuities as “they were only girlfriends of war vets” during the liberation war.

In a statement yesterday, Ziliwaco (Mashonaland West) warned members of MDC-Alliance and called on them to advise their member to withdraw the statement.

“Ziliwaco Trust Mashonaland West leant with high level of grief and sorrow following the heart-shocking statement of MDC Member of Parliament, it said.

“The MDC family is, therefore, warned and advised to publicly advise their member to swallow her words.

“We are publicly presenting our discomfort over the statement that undermines the supreme sacrifice and intelligence role played by the war collaborators in the quest for the independence that the MDC family is enjoying through unlimited democracy.”

Ziliwaco said they would ensure that an apology was given, adding that war collaborators were yet to get recognition.

“We, as sons and daughters of the veterans of the liberation struggle, are not going to leave that statement uncorrected, since it is additional salt on a bleeding wound, considering that war collaborators are yet to get recognition for their role in the struggle for independence,” said Ziliwaco Trust.

“Ziliwaco does not expect a Zimbabwean Member of Parliament to be ignorant of the Zimbabwean history to such an extent. However, as a reminder, the MDC family must visit Kamugoma Base massacre site in Masvingo where 105 war collaborators were ruthlessly killed on 14 May in 1978. There are numerous incidents that testify what it was to be a war collaborator.”