OUTSPOKEN Zipra war veterans leader Max Mkandla has castigated President Emmerson Mnangagwa for deviating from the Unity Accord agreement signed by the late former President Robert Mugabe and Vice-President Joshua Nkomo by grabbing key ministries that were allocated to Zapu when the pact was signed in 1987.
The political agreement was signed on December 22, 1987 to end post-independence hostilities between Zanu PF and PF Zapu.
Mkandla told Southern Eye that the ministries formed the basis of the Unity Accord because they had strings attached to them.
“According to the agreement, the position of the Ministry of Home Affairs belonged to Zapu together with the chairmanship. That has been changed. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Defence are key ministries,” he said.
“The defence one was given to Zanu PF and the Home Affairs was given to Zapu to deal with the recruitment of police and passports. We have a lot of people who were victims of Gukurahundi. They need those documents so that the ministry was strategically given to Zapu to deal with such issues.”
Mkandla said the position of Vice-President was OK because it still belonged to someone who comes from Zapu structures.
“In order to strengthen the Unity Accord, the government should go back to its principles and engage those who are from Zapu structures in key positions. That is why some people have deserted the party to join opposition politics,” he said.
“The (Home Affairs) ministry should be handled by someone with war credentials so that the country will not lose its liberation war credentials.
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“There are other ministries that were given to Matabeleland such as the Finance and Industry, but one can find out that they do not come out from Zapu structures.”
The Unity Accord of 1987 was a political agreement signed between Mugabe and Nkomo in Zimbabwe to end the violence that broke out between 1982 and 1987 in Matabeleland and Midlands regions.
About 20 000 people were killed when the North Korea-trained Five Brigade invaded the two regions ostensibly to hunt down Zapu dissidents.
