'Zimbabwe Defense Forces Will Defend Its Operations'

President Mugabe hands over a sword to Army Commander Lieutenant General Phillip Valerio Sibanda for the best student, Wishes Manenji (left), at the Zimbabwe Military Academy in Gweru on July 12, 2012., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

‘ZDF will defend its operations’

September 21, 2013
Takunda Maodza in NYANGA
Zimbabwe Herald

THE Zimbabwe Defence Forces will not allow the illegal Western sanctions to handicap its operations and shall remain resolute and innovative in the face of hostility, the Zimbabwe National Army commander Lieutenant General Philip Valerio Sibanda has said. The country has been under illegal sanctions instigated and internationalised by its former coloniser Britain following a successful land reform exercise that addressed historical colonial land ownership imbalances.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony of Battalion Group Commanders (Course Number 11) here attended by Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga and Airforce of Zimbabwe Commander Perrence Shiri, Lt-Gen Sibanda said the illegal embargo must not be allowed to cripple the country’s defence forces and the nation at large.

“The illegal sanctions are affecting the organisations. These sanctions remain a stumbling block in turning around our economy and are the result why we have challenges on this course. They have affected our conditions of service,” he said.

Lt-Gen Sibanda said despite the sanctions-induced challenges, limited resources had been allocated towards completion of the course.

“We should never allow challenges to overwhelm us. This, we cannot allow and we should continue to soldier on with the available resources.

“I am happy to note that the challenges we face and continue to face have not impeded the completion of this course,” he said.

He said he was hopeful that the new Zanu-PF Government would seriously consider allocating a reasonable budget to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and enable it to carry out its constitutional mandate of defending the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The former MDC-T Finance Minister Tendai Biti was reluctant to give the army enough financial resources on political grounds during the tenure of the now defunct and discordant inclusive Government.

The BGCC is a course meant for battalion commanders who are of the ranks of major and lieutenant colonel and is meant to sharpen their battle skills.

The exercise was conducted at All Arms Battle School in Nyanga. The graduation ceremony saw 5 Infantry Brigade conducting a live firing exercise of all weapons in the ZDF.

These included fighter jets dropping live bombs at targets, BM21 multiple rocket launchers, armoured tanks, anti aircraft guns, grenades among others.

The training grounds resembled a war scene as different army units exchanged live fire from both air and ground, from long and short ranges as the country displayed its military mighty.

The fierce exercise, attended senior army officers from Mozambique and Namibia, ended with no injuries to participants, a testimony of an excellent rehearsal.