adminCde Mnangagwa said soldiers, some of whom are ex-freedom fighters, had fought to liberate this country from colonial bondage to allow Zimbabweans to freely express their rights and belonging to a political party of one’s choice.
And members of the defence forces just like any other Zimbabwean citizen are free to support political parties of their choice.
The only difference being that they, unlike civilians, cannot hold positions in their parties of choice. The soldiers can only show their support by voting for their preferred parties in an election.
Senior members of the ZDF have categorically stated that they do not support political parties without liberation war credentials and it is their right to support parties with liberation war credentials.
The declaration by the generals has courted the ire of the MDC formations and like-minded civic organisations who have been criticising the service chiefs for their stand.
This has led to demands for the so-called security sector reforms to be implemented to overhaul the defence forces. The demands have been flatly rejected by Zanu-PF and progressive forces who uphold the values of the liberation struggle, which brought about an independent Zimbabwe.
On Monday Minister Mnangagwa made yet another significant pronouncement regarding the defence forces. The minister said there would not be any security sector reforms in Zimbabwe and Zanu-PF would ensure that the defence forces continue to jealously safeguard national interests in line with the ideals of the liberation struggle.
The defence forces are an element of national power but some parties in the inclusive government are against that because they want a force that is pliant to foreign interests.
We applaud Minister Mnangagwa for categorically making these two pronouncements especially as we head towards elections.
Soldiers will be free to vote for any party of their choice in the harmonised presidential, parliamentary and council elections but there will be no security sector reform. The defence forces cannot be reformed because they are part of the revolution that brought about the independence of this country. They represent the ideals of the liberation struggle, which form part of our national interest, and should defend them through and through.
And it is quite encouraging that some of our trade unions have seen reason and are also against security sector reforms.
The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, whose other leaders are very critical of government, has dismissed calls for security sector reforms.
PTUZ president Dr Takavafira Zhou says our defence forces are among the best security forces in the world. He says while there might be need for electoral reforms there is certainly no need for security sector reforms. Like Dr Zhou argues there is absolutely no basis for security sector reforms.
The MDC formations and their supporters have also been wary of the appointment or seconding of military officers to parastatals, State enterprises, constitutional bodies and other civilian institutions.
But even in the so-called democracies that the MDC formations admire and want to copy, serving and retired military personnel hold posts in civilian institutions. A good example is in the United States where some top military officers have gone on to hold the post of Secretary of State.
The only question that might arise is whether the concerned military officer has the skills required in the civilian institution they have been deployed in.
We hope Minister Mnangagwa’s pronouncements will put to rest the shrill calls for “reforming” our security forces, which in essence is an attempt to weaken our defence forces. The effort now should be to look for money to hold the referendum and elections so that we do away with a discordant government.
Online Reporter