'Nobody should sit in London and tell us to do security sector reform' says Sekeremayi

State Security Minister Sydney  Sekeremayi has claims that the MDC formations are being sponsored by the country's former coloniser, Britain, to press for security sector reforms as part of an array of election conditions.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Mashonaland East Provincial Co-ordinating Committee meeting in Marondera at the weekend, Sekeramayi, who is also the Zanu-PF Secretary for Security, said Government would never change the leadership   of  the country's security services.

"That is nonsense. Our security sector, comprising the Zimbabwe National Army, the Air Force of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Republic Police, to some extent the Zimbabwe Prison Services and the intelligence services, are professional bodies whose performance is acknowledged even outside Zimbabwe," said Sekeramayi.

"These are bodies which are headed by some of our most illustrious commanders during the liberation struggle.

"But, because these commanders are the ones who piloted the freedom of this country, those that we conquered don't want to see them.

Those that we defeated don't want these cadres who joined the liberation struggle as young boys and girls.

"They don't want them to be in command position and we are saying that to all intents and purposes it's a lot of nonsense we will not accept it.

"If there is anything that has to be done in terms of the quality of our defence and security forces, we are the ones to do it. Nobody should sit in London or elsewhere and tell us to do security sector reform, security sector alignment and that type of rubbish. That will not be done."

He said claims that security sector re-alignment was a condition for the holding of the harmonised polls were being pushed by the country's detractors.

Sekeramayi said Zimbabwe will hold the polls whenever they are due without being distracted by calls for security sector reforms.

This comes hard on the heels of the same sentiments by Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa that the so-called security sector reforms were not part of the Global Political Agreement and parties pushing the agenda were driven by the illegal regime change motive as they sought to weaken the country's security services.

Minister Mnangagwa, who is the Zanu-PF Secretary for Legal Affairs, said the major outstanding matters in the GPA were the removal of the illegal economic sanctions and dismantling of the pirate radio stations broadcasting hate messages into Zimbabwe from other countries.

However, the MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai claimed recently while addressing his supporters in Chiredzi that his party was ready for the polls as long as there were "fundamental" reforms among them the security sector and media reforms.

The party still insists there is political violence in the country, while the majority of the people, including all churches in Zimbabwe, are saying the contrary and are actually calling for the country to go for polls now after the successful holding of the referendum to adopt a new constitution.

So many research organisations, including the Western media that had been vilifying Zanu-PF, have turned tables against the MDC-T and are now predicting Zanu-PF victory in the forthcoming plebiscite