President Emmerson Mnangagwa said his administration is committed to progressively and comprehensively address the conditions of service of the Defence forces, inclusive of their housing needs, as the economy improves.
Addressing thousands of Zimbabweans who thronged the giant National Sports Stadium for this year’s Defence Forces Day celebrations this afternoon, President Mnangagwa acknowledged that the forces’ equipment is too old and needs improvement.
“My administration will also pay attention to the re-equipingvof our forces, whose equipment in some instances dates back to 30 years,” said President Mnangagwa.
The President also said various training and development programmes are being conducted for ZDF members at various training institutions around the country, which is part of the endeavour to improve the forces.
“To widen the scope of ZDF competencies, officers have continued to undertake training programmes offered by other countries.
“This accounts for several ZDF officers presently attending regional courses in Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia as well as others carried out in China, Russia , Greece, India, Malaysia and Pakistan,” he said.
He added that this has significantly transformed the forces as major contributors to international peace and stability.
President Mnangagwa appluded ZDF for various corporate social responsibility activities and programmes which has seen the ZDF providing civil assistance to ministries in all the country’s ten provinces as well as various community projects.
“These projects included construction of school classroom blocks, clinics, hospitals and bridges, among other infrastructure developments.
“In addition, our Defence Forces in conjunction with the Civil Protection Unit, also offered aid by providing logistical, food and medical assistance to victims of natural disasters, especially inbte country’s flood-prone low lying areas,” President Mnangagwa said.
President Mnangagwa expressed appreciation to the whole nation for observing peace during the election period and blamed MDC Alliance leaders for instigating violence after the election.
“Iam however deeply concerned with the incidents of violence that rocked the streets of Harare at the instigation of some members of the MDC Alliance leadership, which subsequently resulted in te regrettable loss of lives, injury to persons and damage to property,” he said.
President Mnangagwa extended his condolences to the bereaved families and relatives of the victims of the politically motivated violence and condemned the “barbaric” acts of violence.
He called for restraint, peace throughout the country urging peoole to bury political differences and focus on rebuilding a prosperous Zimbabwe as one family.
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