The Sunday Mail
Sharon Munjenjema recently in Chipinge
Cabinet is seized with a Bill that will legislate compensation for ex-political prisoners, detainees and restrictees, a senior Government official has said.
Secretary for Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees, Brigadier-General (Retired) Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi also said issues around vetting people who played various roles in the liberation struggle were being addressed.
His pronouncement follows concerns from nearly 600 political detainees, restrictees, collaborators and liberation war fighters in Manicaland over delays in vetting them for monthly payouts.
Said Rtd Brig-Gen Tapfumaneyi: “Ex-detainees are governed by the Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees and Restrictees Act. For them to be vetted they must be recognised by the law first, but currently they are not.
“A Bill is at Cabinet stage. It seeks to align the governing Act with the Constitution and to also include collaborators and nationalists into the equation.”
The number of non-combatant cadres is estimated at around 20 000.
Zimbabwe Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees and Restrictees’ Association national secretary for legal affairs Cde Joseph Kapeta recently called on Government to speedily recognise their members’ roles in liberating Zimbabwe.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail in Chipinge recently, Cde Kapeta said the majority of liberation fighters were living in poverty.
“There are a lot of political prisoners, detainees, restrictees, collaborators and other non-combat cadres of the liberation struggle who are still alive and need compensation for the roles they played.
“We know funds may be scarce, but we believe that the little that can be found should be shared so that everyone benefits.”
Cde Kapeta also condemned multiple farm ownership at a time many Zimbabweans still had no land.
