WITH Zimbabwe reeling from the double-whammy of the
coronavirus pandemic and the country’s long-standing economic crisis, Defence
minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri has lifted the lid on the immense challenges
this is creating for the armed forces.
This prompted analysts who spoke to the Daily News last
night to say that the situation threatened peace and stability in the country —
as demoralised soldiers were being forced to survive on grossly inadequate
rations all round.
At the same time, it was also announced yesterday that the
military had joined other security forces in a manhunt for dangerous criminals
who recently escaped from the country’s coronavirus quarantine centres.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Muchinguri-Kashiri — who
is also the chairperson of the ruling Zanu PF — said the corona pandemic had
particularly gutted the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) through diminished
budgets.
“ZDF medical personnel have been deployed alongside their
ministry of Health and Child Care counterparts in manning the various medical
institutions … and as such, are on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19.
“In both cases, the ZDF personnel are highly exposed to the
risk of contracting Covid-19 due to their interaction with many people whose
status is unknown, both in law enforcement and medical duties.
“Thus, constraints, such as the shortage of personal
protective equipment (PPE) are serious challenges to their effectiveness and
safety,” Muchinguri-Kashiri told the portfolio committee on Defence, Home
Affairs and Security Services.
“Inadequate funding for food, transport, fuel and kitting,
which became perennial after the imposition of illegal sanctions, also take
their toll on both the morale of troops and effectiveness.
“Shortage of institutional accommodation further
complicates matters because under such circumstances ZDF members are supposed
to stay away from their families to avoid transmitting the disease.
“But this is not possible due to the shortage of barrack
accommodation,” Muchinguri-Kashiri said further.
She also told the
committee that at present the country had no functional military hospital,
leaving soldiers and their families to join members of the public at State
health facilities — which were reeling from challenges of their own.
“Under normal circumstances, ZDF members and their
dependents are supposed to be treated at dedicated military hospitals. “This is the trend the world over and Zimbabwe is one of
the few countries that are lagging behind in this regard.
“Our plea is that resources be availed for this purpose in
order to restore the dignity of our military forces,” Muchinguri-Kashiri added.
“Aged equipment, motor vehicles, arms and munitions have
not been replaced for years.
“These factors have reduced the effectiveness of ZDF and
other security apparatus, and the advent of Covid-19 has not made matters any
better.
“The ministry of Defence and War Veterans Affairs has
suffered a drastic reduction in its monthly allocation of $154 million before
the pandemic, to a mere $54 million, which is inadequate for the recurrent
expenditure of the ministry, let alone the added requirements of PPEs, hand
sanitisers and thermometers.
“It is indeed a tall order to expect the ministry to
deliver to expectations with an allocation that is hardly adequate for the
soldiers’ daily rations,” Muchinguri-Kashiri further told the committee.
She also revealed that at the beginning of the coronavirus
pandemic, the ZDF had submitted a $500 million budget to cover three months of
Covid-19 operations, but Treasury had only released $100 million.
Muchinguri-Kashiri also asked for the provision of
resources to buy cameras and drones to facilitate remote electronic monitoring
of borders to curb the high number of cases of border jumping — which she said
had the potential to spread Covid-19 in the country.
Yesterday was not the first time that Muchinguri-Kashiri
had revealed the carnage that had been caused by Zimbabwe’s dying economy on
the ZDF.
Addressing MPs in Victoria Falls during Finance minister
Mthuli Ncube’s budget consultations last year, she also painted a sorry picture
of the state of affairs within the military.
“We are expected to host other defence forces but no one
wants to come here because of these conditions. We can’t beg for food for soldiers. These are people who
have sacrificed themselves,” she said.
“We need food rations as we are expected to provide 30
items, but we are only giving them (soldiers) 10.
“We are expected to provide four sets of uniforms but they
have only one. You can identify a Zimbabwean soldier by their worn-out
uniforms,” Muchinguri-Kashiri told the MPs.
A few days ahead of the presentation of his 2020 National
Budget, Ncube told the Daily News in an exclusive interview that Zimbabweans
should not see shadows behind the government’s plans to improve the welfare of
the security sector.
“Peace comes at a cost. So, you pay for the peace … we
consume peace, it’s a service. Just try war and see what happens to the value
of everything when you have instability.
“People complain about soldiers this and that, but let me
tell you, if we do not have peace you will have huge problems,” he said. “We are also working on a programme to acquire motorcycles
and vehicles (for the police) … they should not be driving BMWs but
mushika-shikas. That is the way to go.
“It’s very important that we should make sure that the
security cluster is well funded, that soldiers have a decent meal, three meals
a day, as well as the police,” Ncube further said.
“Right now police can’t respond to incidents of crime
because there are no motorcycles, no vehicles and so forth. They also have
nowhere decent to live. So, think about their accommodation … and the same
applies to the military.
“So, all of this is critically important. These are not
things you do in one year, but food is for tomorrow … transportation and
housing you do it over time,” he added.
Meanwhile, Muchinguri-Kashiri also told Parliament
yesterday that the military had been roped in to track dangerous criminals that
recently escaped from quarantine centres across the country.
“We are concerned about more than 170 hard-core criminals
who were released from neighbouring countries who have escaped from quarantine
centres.
“Some of them are already causing havoc in the country.
Some of them do not have identification documents and some are convicted
murderers.
“Now, we are having to send rapid response teams to hunt
for these people,” Muchinguri-Kashiri said. The government has
been criticised by some of the returning Zimbabweans for the “deplorable”
conditions at quarantine centres.
Many returnees have complained about the poor food and
inhabitable conditions, which they have said have exposed them to the lethal
virus. Daily News
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