| | In this briefing, I draw attention to three different kinds of political constructions about Zimbabwe's guerilla war veterans. The first political construction revolves around a discourse of 'true' and 'fake' veterans. This construction of veterans is linked to a politics of legitimation and de-legitimation and has been used since independence. The second political construction, the heart of the paper, looks at how the law has been used to construct veterans and the war. The numerous veterans' benefits which emerge from a discussion of the role of law in constructing veterans' rights suggests a third political construction: the veterans' portrait of themselves as victims of official neglect. |
