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From Nduduzo Tshuma in Harare
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday told of his joy at the chance to meet thousands of independence war veterans and hear their present struggles, while also sharing ideas on issues affecting the ruling Zanu-PF party.

“There’s a joy that runs through your mind and goes, but there’s a joy that gets into your mind and gets into your heart and settles there. It’s the joy that I have that we’ve met and had these discussions,” Cde Mugabe said at the end of a frank exchange with 10,000 former freedom fighters at the City Sports Centre in Harare.

In a wide-ranging speech after the former freedom fighters presented a myriad of grievances, President Mugabe invited them to form mining companies, assured the landless that they would get land and committed his government to settling outstanding school fees for the war heroes’ children, starting next week.

Cde Mugabe paid tribute to the fallen heroes who lost their lives fighting to liberate the country from colonial bondage, and those that suffered various degrees of injuries during the war.

“You’re the brave ones, I say well done to you. Thank God you’re still alive,” the Zanu-PF leader said, to cheers.

““I’m sorry we’ve not had this opportunity before, nor have we had the facilities with which to thank you sufficiently but as I said, we’ve tried now to have a ministerial facility which can on a regular basis tell us what should be done and done quickly and we shall try to the best of our ability to do those things that should be done in order for the rest of our lives to be a little happier than they’ve been.

“Just a little happier because maximum happiness isn’t yet possible before we create resources but we’ll try our best, all of us, as you see us, we’ll be working together, even those in Defence, those in the public service and in the private sector. When we say do this, do it for us, especially in Finance [ministry], when we say we want this money, please provide if it’s there. There’s never been a period when there’s been no money, but it’s a question of priority, we say the conditions of the war veterans is a priority.

I go to my home in Zvimba, I clap my hands calmly as a sign of respect. They give me respect as President but customarily, I’m a child of the clan. So you’ve to have that discipline, but we observe that now some of you have lost that discipline, that’s not good. You can’t say words, you should never ever be heard saying to your elders. Never, ever!

“The discipline you give in the army, that’s external discipline. Whether you like it or not, that’s military, that’s external but in life, it’s internal discipline, what you give yourself, you forward march yourself.

“Know that there’re these two forms of discipline, the internal and external. There’re others who’re given top positions, they despise those at the bottom.”

President Mugabe said Zanu-PF has survived a number of threats including the imposition of sanctions by the United States of America and the United Kingdom on the banking sector, industry and even fertilizer companies hence crippling production and affecting food production.

He called on the war veterans to remember that the US and UK have never liked the Zanu-PF government and were working on removing the revolutionary party from power.

“It’s us, the war veterans, who know the ideology and principles. We shouldn’t be seen dining and supping with imperialists… we see them in restaurants in their numbers, and what would they be talking about. What would you be doing there?

“It’s the work of only the foreign affairs [ministry] to interact with these foreign, external representatives. Are you a spy? Or are you becoming an agent? What friendship is it? It’ll be misinterpreted by the ordinary people, so take care.”

President Mugabe said despite agreements on some aspects of the Zanu-PF ideology, there were some senior officials scrambling for positions.

“Some are looking forward that the President is going to die. Some write in newspapers that the President has gone to Malaysia or Singapore, he’s sick so he’s on his way, dying.

“Then you see now people chasing each other saying the President is dying. I’m not dying, have shame!” he said.

President Mugabe reiterated that he serves “at the mercy” of the people, and they are the ones who will decide whether he stays or goes.

“Let’s get over that. Let’s not bother talking about succession and things like that. Look ahead. We’ve enemies who’re trying to destroy us. Let’s unite. Unite in resisting the enemy, unite in working together so that these projects can succeed,” said President Mugabe.

He said the country has abundant natural resources with strategic countries like China and Japan willing to help the nation, and focus should be directed to that.

Speaking at the meeting, War Veterans Minister Tshinga Dube said the meeting had gone on successfully, shaming some sections of the private media who had predicted chaos.

Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi also described the meeting as a success where there was open debate on issues affecting the war veterans and the party.

“I leave you with my promise that we’ll repeat this. Repeat this as long as we’re still alive, even when I retire, when I go, it’ll be part of the things I say you do this when I’m gone.”

He said he rejected proposals to meet the veterans after every five years, noting that the period was too long as they were not growing any younger and needed to keep in touch so that the government remains alive to their plight.

President Mugabe said there was so much land and opportunities for war veterans to start mining activities and businesses.

He, however, rejected proposals by the veterans for a 20-30 percent stake in mines, asking why they wanted part of the stake when they could have it all.

He told them: “I don’t think that’s a problem, but if you say you want 20 or 30 percent in mining, what do you mean? If you’re given 20-30 percent then what happens to the 80 and 70 percent? The country is yours, you can start a mine wherever you want, but you want to give yourselves a percentage, why?

“The whites are crying that I’m taking the mines away from them. The whole of the mining areas are open, start your own mining companies.”

He bemoaned a trend by those skilled, especially in mining, whom he said prefer to work for established companies for a salary instead of setting up their own enterprises.

President Mugabe arrived at the meeting flanked by his two deputies, Vice Presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko, followed by security ministers Sydney Sekeramayi (Defence), Kembo Mohadi (State Security), Ignatius Chombo (Home Affairs) and Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube (Welfare Services for War Veterans, Ex Detainees and Restrictees).

During the meeting, the war veterans presented a raft of challenges they were facing ranging from statutory benefits, economic empowerment to preferential treatment on economic opportunities and indigenisation.

They also demanded that the Zanu-PF political commissar – a position currently held by Cde Saviour Kaukuwere – should be a war veteran, and called for a ban on party slogans and songs promoting any individuals other than the President.

The party, they proposed, should also stop the expulsion of officials without following due process. The war veterans suggested that the central committee, and not the disciplinary committee chaired by Cde Mphoko, should be granted the powers to discipline errant cadres.

“Schools have been chasing away our children because of non-payment of school fees,” the war veterans said in a report prepared ahead of the meeting. “We also want a 20 percent quota of the Presidential Scholarship [for our children] and the $260 we are getting as pension is too little and need an upward review. Most of the comrades need hearing aids and also to be taken to [medical] specialists.”

The war veterans also said they wanted preferential appointments to posts such as ambassadors, chief executive officers of parastatals, commissioners of statutory bodies and permanent secretaries among other senior government positions.

President Mugabe assured the freedom fighters that despite the fact that there was now limited land for resettlement, war veterans applying for land would be allocated as the government would not allow them to go on landless. He said after the discovery of corruption at the ministry of lands, he decided that the minister brings all applications for land to him before distribution.

Cde Mugabe said the ruling Zanu-PF party was people-oriented and wanted all the people to have access to land and that it was on that basis that the government fashioned the Zim-Asset economic blueprint.

He, however, warned the veterans that they should not apply for farms if they are not passionate about agriculture, but rather seek to run business enterprises where they felt their competencies applied.

President Mugabe discouraged the conduct of leaving managers to run farms while owners are relaxed in cities, citing the example of Alpha Omega Dairy owned by himself and First Lady Cde Grace Mugabe which has a debt of $4 million after losing $40 million to people stealing from the company.

“So you’ve to be there and I must teach myself that I must be there. In other words, I must have managers that I can trust and supervise properly. But anyway its recovering very well [Alpha Omega], it doesn’t matter,” he chuckled.

Speaking at the same meeting, War Veterans Minister Cde Tshinga Dube announced that the government would pay school fees for the children of former freedom fighters, starting next week.