General Valerio Sibanda urges military to remain resilient

The Commander of Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), General Philip Valerio Sibanda has claimed that there were some detractors who wanted to manipulate the military for their personal gains and urged the military to remain resilient in maintaining peace and stability in the country.

In a New year message statement, Sibanda told the military to be prepared to play a major part in facilitating and supporting the various government programmes aimed at achieving vision 2030.

"Our officers, men and women of the ZDF were equal participants in doing all possible to maintain and promote a peaceful and stable Zimbabwe. This was despite the spirited efforts of our detractors to manipulate the military into doing ‘their bidding' for their selfish ends," Sibanda said.

He added that the military should know that the current challenges that are being encountered in the country are a passing phase.

"These challenges are not a good enough reason to lose focus and be ‘taken in' by prophets of doom who have since independence in 1980 prophesied doom of one sort or another for our country," he said.

Sibanda added that the defence forces' focus should be on peace and stability in the country so that development can happen.