By Cde Sikhosana Bambazonke
The much-touted ‘special’ presidential adviser Paul Tungwarara, a borehole multi-millionaire and all-around scheme maestro, has launched yet another headline-grabbing initiative: the Presidential Stands for Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Programme.
This grand plan promises a whopping 50,000 housing stands for war veterans, despite government data hinting there might be only about 30,000 war veterans left.
Who else gets a stand? Ghost veterans? War veteran clones?
Tungwarara, whose Midas touch turns government contracts into personal multi-million deals faster than you can say “2030 Ndinenge Ndichipo,” has once again taken the liberty of slapping the word “Presidential” on a project to give it the unmistakable aura of official approval from President Emmerson Mnangagwa himself—because nothing says legitimacy like rebranding a self-serving scheme with the president’s name.
This latest brainchild was inked in Harare by Tungwarara, local government minister Daniel Garwe, and war veterans minister Monica Mavhunga in a ceremony that looked suspiciously like a secret handshake disguised as official business.
Mavhunga reassured the public that the government “is concerned about the welfare of veterans” and that the programme would be executed with “transparency,” presumably the kind of transparency that comes with a thick fog of government spin.
Notably, the timing of this generous housing giveaway is impeccable—coming 45 years after the liberation war ended, just as most war veterans have become experts at surviving poverty and political neglect.
The programme seems less about building homes and more about building political peace: a golden bribe to silence veterans demanding Mnangagwa’s resignation and cheerlead his questionable bid to extend his presidency beyond the constitutional two terms—because why stop at 2028 when you can go all the way to 2030?
Tungwarara’s record reads like a greatest hits of political patronage: first, the *Presidential War Veterans Borehole Scheme* with 35,000 boreholes drilled, then the *Presidential War Veterans Fund* that handed out US$1.5 million in “interest-free loans” distributed with the precision of a drunken street vendor.
True patriots don’t forget the Presidential Solar Programme, promising to power 200,000 homes with solar energy—still waiting for that power to turn on, just like many political promises.
The man clearly has a flair for grand gestures and government contracts, and now he’s turned his attention to giving “housing stands” that many veterans may never build on—because what’s better than land you can’t afford to develop?
It’s the perfect gift: a shiny piece of dirt with a side of political silence.
So, while war veterans might be getting stands, the rest of us are left wondering—how many more “Presidential” schemes will it take before the house of cards called Agenda 2030 is complete, with Mnangagwa comfortably ensconced for years to come?
