Zimbabwean National Liberation War Veterans Association

The Association of Demobilized Fighters ZANLA ( ZANU Party Wing) and ZIPRA ( ZAPU Party Wing) was established in 1980 , immediately after the independence of Zimbabwe . The number of the Association was about 30 thousand people.

ZNLWVA initially had a close relationship with government agencies. The Ministry of Veterans Affairs was established in the government of Robert Mugabe , and a special mobilization service was established in the Ministry of Defense. Almost all the prominent ranks of law enforcement agencies and ZANU and ZAPU functionaries were members of the Association ^[1] .

As a public organization, ZNLWWA for the first 17 years of its existence was almost not active. The situation changed in 1997 when Chengerai Hongzvi , known as Hitler , became the chairman of the Association. His personal involvement in the war was always in serious doubt, but charisma and cruelty ensured leadership in ZNLWVA ^[2] . Khunzvi gained great popularity by demanding payment of lump sums equivalent to $ 4,000 to members of the Association, establishing monthly state benefits of $ 2,000, and extending veteran benefits to women who did not participate in battles but were partisan informants.

ZNLWVA obtained from the government lump sum payments of $ 2,500 and monthly benefits of $ 100 ^[3] . A special fund was created, around which a series of corruption scandals arose. Large costs in a difficult economic situation were an important impetus to catastrophic inflation and the collapse of the Zimbabwean financial system ^[4] .

Further, Khunzvi put forward a demand to accelerate the redistribution of land in favor of black veterans. In early 2000, ZNLWVA addressed Queen Elizabeth II (as the head of the British Commonwealth ) with a warning about a "bloody slaughter" if property claims of members of the Association to white farmers were not satisfied ^[5] . Soon, mass seizures of farms owned by white owners began.

The captors, regardless of age — many of them young men and teenagers born after the end of the war — represented themselves as veterans and members of ZNLWVA, and the administration and police participated in the process. The killing of 19 people was documented, of which 7 were white farmers and 12 black farm workers ^[6] .

In August 2002, the farm seized from a white couple was taken by the wife of President Grace Mugabe ^[7] . In general, the capture campaign of the early 2000s strengthened the political position of President Mugabe.

In presidential and parliamentary elections, ZNLWVA activists put severe pressure on candidates and voters of the opposition MDC , especially in Harare and Bulawayo , where the opposition had the greatest chance of success ^[8] . ZNLWVA leaders openly stated that they would use violence, but would not allow the MDC to come to power ^[9] . The Hunzvi Private Clinic near Harare has gained fame as a place of forced detention, beatings and torture of captured oppositionists. Amnesty International characterized this institution as a “torture chamber” ^[10] .

In 2007 - 2008, ZNLWVA served as a kind of “ DND ” under the police in the fight against speculation. The association provides control in the villages, organizes actions to support the president. A comparison of ZNLWVA with Anti-Maidan appeared in Russian comments ^[11] .

In November 2007, the ZNLWVA organized a massive rally, the “March of a Million”, which expressed support for President Mugabe in confronting the West and protesting against international sanctions against Zimbabwe ^[12] (sanctions were imposed after property was seized from white farmers).

After the sudden death of Chengherai Khunzvi in 2001, the Association was headed by Jabulani Sibanda (who had not participated in the war by age). Politically, he focused on the vice president of Zimbabwe, Joyce Mujuru , who came into conflict with Grace Mugabe and was removed from office at the end of 2014 . Together with her, Sibanda lost his post at ZNLWVA ^[13] , after which he was expelled from ZANU.

The new chairman of the Association was Minister for Veterans Affairs Christopher Mutswangwa . He is considered an associate of the new vice president and curator of law enforcement agencies Emmerson Mnangagwa ^[14] . The appointment of Mutswangwa, representing the ruling party and, accordingly, ZANLA, caused discontent among some veterans who fought in the ZIPRA ^[15] (the relations between the parties of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo were quite complicated throughout their history).

A year later, in December 2015 , Christopher Mutswangwa was suddenly expelled from ZANU ^[16] on charges of "factional activity." The real reason, probably, was the indirect criticism expressed by him to Mugabe for “combining family relations with politics” ^[17] .

Regardless of ZNLWVA's formal job hierarchy, the key figure in the Association is Vice Chairman Joseph Chinotimba , Robert Mugabe’s closest associate in charge of pro-government non-governmental organizations.

In November 2017, the command of the Zimbabwean army removed President Robert Mugabe from power . The impetus for these events was the removal of Emmerson Mnangagwa from the vice presidential post, committed by the head of state in the interests of Grace Mugabe.

Despite ZNLWVA’s well-known ties to the presidential couple, the Association, led by Christopher Mutswangwa, strongly supported the military. Mass demonstrations were organized with calls for the resignation of Mugabe ^[18] .