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They fought a big, protracted war in their teens and early 20s. They won it.

Forty-one years on, they are in their late 50s, 60s and older.

Most unfortunately, a good number of them are battling health conditions that are commonly associated with ageing.

In addition to that, they are contending with long-term effects of injuries they suffered during the war.

Life is indeed challenging for some war veterans but they must be encouraged that the Government is fighting hard to take better care of them.

Yesterday we carried two stories of veterans — Cdes Phineas Maphosa and Jack Mpofu who are unwell. The former has a bullet still lodged just below his knee, 42 years after he survived a Rhodesian forces air raid on a Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra) training camp in Angola. More than 300 of his colleagues died in the early morning attack, while 550, including Cde Maphosa were injured.

Cde Mpofu (79), also a former Zipra cadre, sustained an injury on the hip during the struggle. The injury is troubling him especially now in his advanced age so he needs a hip replacement. Happily for him and all of us, the Government has paid doctors to perform the procedure but he needs US$2 300 more to pay hospital fees.

“For the past two years, I have been appealing to Government to assist with funds so that I could undergo an operation on my injured leg. I am glad the surgical fees have been paid, but the people who are processing the payments did not settle the hospital fees, which means Mater Dei Hospital cannot admit me for the operation before the money is paid,” he said.

Earlier, we reported that Government recently assisted another war veteran, Cde Moffat Hadebe (85) to pay his US$2 000 medical bills when he was not feeling well.  Around the same time, we carried a piece on how the Government assisted in paying medical bills for Cde Jane Ngwenya, yet another Zipra freedom fighter, who sadly died a few weeks ago. In her case, the Government went further by building a beautiful house for her at her farm in Esigodini as well as providing her with a vehicle.

These four are certainly not the only ones who need assistance or have been helped in paying their hospital bills. There must be many more.

As one ages, they often suffer from a few medical conditions — high blood pressure, diabetes and the like. For war veterans, the conditions would be greater; the foregoing on top of the aches on legs, hips, backs, eyes and so on resulting from the extreme physical demands of a war. Medical bills would inevitably pile up in the circumstances.

However, we, and our liberators must be encouraged that the Government is not only aware of their difficult medical conditions but is also doing as much as it can to foot the bills for specialist treatment.  The help rendered to Cdes Ngwenya, Hadebe and partly Mpofu is evidence of that. This is over and above the normal medical benefits that the cadres receive from the Government in terms of the law.

As authorities continue to develop and implement strategies to improve the well-being of war veterans, they launched the Veterans of the Struggle Economic Empowerment Programmes in June. In our view, this broad-based initiative would be a game-changer.

It will see returns on investments in mining, agriculture, financial services, property development as well as tourism economically benefiting the freedom fighters. Portions of revenues generated from the businesses should be channelled towards safeguarding their health so the Government would not need to spend as much as it is doing now in paying medical bills for war veterans.

But Cdes Maphosa and Mpofu and their colleagues sacrificed their youth, limps and lives to liberate every Zimbabwean. For this reason, we urge individuals, companies and civil society groups to complement the good work that the Government is doing in looking after the freedom fighters.