The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
ZANU PF National Secretary for Information and Publicity Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa has dismissed with contempt allegations that have been levelled against the Forever Associates of Zimbabwe (FAZ) that it is an insidious force against the integrity of Wednesday’s harmonised elections.
In an interview this evening, Cde Mutsvangwa said FAZ and other similar structures reflect the historical experience of the people of Zimbabwe when they fought against the British settlers regime.
He said FAZ is a peaceful body promoting the interests of the country.
“The reality is that Zimbabwe has got its own revolutionary tradition. We had to organise the people of Zimbabwe during the war. We had structures that supported the freedom fighters that were fighting; so those security structures are part of the body politic of the Zimbabwean population in rural areas and elsewhere.
“They are a carry over from the days when our people had to be vigilant to know who was the enemy and who was not,” he said.
Cde Mutsvangwa said it is not expected for the country to suddenly discard such institutions and structures which were central for them to achieve victory against colonial white settlers.
“When the Americans wrote their constitution, they made it a law that any American must be allowed to carry a rifle as they were supposed to become defenders of their revolution. That is why there is a proliferation of rifles in the USA. Nobody makes an issue about that and the National Rifle Association of America, even now when it has spilled over into mass shootings of school children or people in shopping centres. Why would they want to make an issue about institutions which Zimbabwe inherited from its war of liberation while selectively not comparing and condemning institutions in Western countries?”
Cde Mutsvangwa said those critical of FAZ are after undoing the gains of the country’s revolution.
He said the detractors’ mission is to weaken the vigilance of the people of Zimbabwe.
“FAZ will remain there because it is part of the vigilance of the Zimbabwean people against subversion by foreigners,” he said.
