Jabulani Sibanda is the former chairman of

Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) is a Zimbabwean organisation established by former guerrillas of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) who served durin ...

(ZNLWVA), an organisation originally comprising all the veterans that fought during the Second

Chimurenga ''Chimurenga'' is a word in Shona. The Ndebele equivalent is not as widely used since most Zimbabweans speak Shona; it is ''Umvukela'', meaning "revolutionary struggle" or uprising. In specific historical terms, it also refers to the Ndebele ...

Zimbabwe War of Liberation The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

which ended in 1979, although he took no part in the war. Under his leadership the ZNLWVA mobilised War Veterans and other ZANU PF sympathisers in the forced and often violent appropriation of farmland they claimed to have been stolen during colonisation. He was expelled from ZANU-PF in 2014 for being part of the Tsholotsho Declaration.

2008 general election

Robert Mugabe endorsement

Despite the fact that he was expelled and therefore not a member of ZANU-PF, Sibanda, together with his ally

Joseph Chinotimba Joseph Chinotimba (born 23 March 1958) is a Zimbabwean political figure. He rose to prominence during the invasions of white-owned commercial farms that started after the 2000 constitutional referendum in Zimbabwe. He is widely regarded as a ...

, led "million-men" marches across the country to endorse President

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of th ...

as the candidate for ZANU-PF in the March 2008 presidential election. Jabulani was inducted as chairman of the war veterans with blessing from Mugabe. Mugabe at one time wanted Jabulani to be

Matebeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...

ZANU-PF chairman, an influential position, but heavyweights in the region refused to acquiesce to this.

Simba Makoni candidacy

Jabulani Sibanda, in his capacity as the chairman of the war veterans association, indicated that the former guerillas would go back into the bush if Mugabe lost the 2008 presidential election to

Morgan Tsvangirai Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (; ; 10 March 1952 – 14 February 2018) was a Zimbabwean politician who was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He was president of the Movement for Democratic Change, and later the Movement for Democrati ...

Expulsion and arrest

Jabulani Sibanda was expelled from Zanu PF and ousted as leader of the ZNLWVA at the end of 2014 because of his apparent allegiance to beleaguered Vice President Joice Mujuru. He was succeeded by the outspoken Chris Mutsvangwa as the chairman of war veterans. He denounced Mugabe for trying to manipulate ZANU-PF structures into endorsing his hidden motives of having his wife, Grace Mugabe, as his successor. JB as he is affectionately known was openly opposed to it and denounced it as a "bedroom coup".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibanda, Jabulani Living people ZANU–PF politicians Year of birth missing (living people) Northern Ndebele people 21st-century Zimbabwean politicians

2008 general election

Robert Mugabe endorsement

Simba Makoni candidacy

Expulsion and arrest

See also

References