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Farirai Machivenyika-Senior Reporter
The Zimbabwe Defence Forces are a major player in the success of the National Development Strategy 1 through the various projects they are engaged in and ensuring there is peace and stability in the country, Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri has said.
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said this in an interview with ZBC to be aired on the 41st anniversary of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Day on Tuesday.
“We need to appreciate that if any given programme is to succeed in any country, that country requires a conducive environment which is characterised by peace and tranquillity,” she said. “That is the situation here in Zimbabwe, we are able to undertake any activity because there is peace and stability in the country.
“We are a major player in NDS1 both in terms of economic growth and stability.”
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said the ZDF was a major player in the production of food and livestock for its members and the country while it had purchased 10 000 stands through a housing scheme for its members.
She said they were constructing a military hospital and come up with a teaching hospital at the Zimbabwe National Defence University.
The ZDF, said Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri, was assisting the ministry of Health and Child Care in the fight against Covid-19 through the ongoing nationwide vaccination campaign.
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said the ZDF acquitted itself well in its various assignments regionally and internationally.
“We have come a long way, we have dedicated men and women in the ZDF defending the national integrity despite the challenges and differences that existed in the past,” she said.
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri yesterday officially launched the 41st Defence Forces Week, an annual event commemorated ahead of celebrations to mark Defence Forces Day.
During the Defence Forces Week, members of the armed forces drawn from the Zimbabwe National Army and the Air Force of Zimbabwe engage in various community assistance programmes that include construction of schools, clinics, bridges and medical outreaches.
This year’s event ran from August 2 to yesterday.
Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri said the programmes that the ZDF would handover this year included the maternity ward at Mberengwa District Hospital, two classrooms blocks each at Charleswood Primary School in Chimanimani and Zhompepe Primary School in Beitbridge, Tongogara Clinic in Shurugwi, Noromwe Clinic in Chiredzi and donation of medical equipment to various clinics, among others.
She said due to restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the projects would be handed over to the communities by the respective commanders of formations in the areas.
Online Reporter