News / National
Zimbabwe National Army has a deficit of 4 000 soldiers, says Mnangagwa
07 Jun 2013 at 04:25hrs | Views
DEFENCE Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has defended the recruitment of soldiers saying the Zimbabwe National Army had a deficit of 4 000 soldiers.
Mnangagwa was responding to a question by Chinhoyi MP Stewart Garadhi in the House of Assembly on Wednesday who wanted him to justify why the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) kept recruiting trainee soldiers when the fiscus was underperforming.
"The current authorised strength is 40 000 members and currently we stand at only 36 000, falling short by 4 000," Mnangagwa said.
Mnangagwa said it should also be borne in mind that the majority of members who founded the ZNA were former freedom fighters, who, since 1980, have attained retirement age.
"The youngest of such members at independence was 18 years of age and 33 years down the line those members are now 51 years old and have to retire according to the regulations. Any pause in replacing members wasted through retirement, resignations, deaths, court martial dismissals and other causes, creates shortfalls which take time to fill thereby affecting the strength of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and its effectiveness," he said.
The minister said the ZDF, therefore, needed to continuously recruit as part of the replacement process.
He added that training of ZDF members was a process and not an event, while explaining to the legislators that it took six months to train a general duty soldier and 18 months to train an officer cadet, resulting in threats in national security if those gaps were not filled by new recruitment.
Mnangagwa was responding to a question by Chinhoyi MP Stewart Garadhi in the House of Assembly on Wednesday who wanted him to justify why the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) kept recruiting trainee soldiers when the fiscus was underperforming.
"The current authorised strength is 40 000 members and currently we stand at only 36 000, falling short by 4 000," Mnangagwa said.
Mnangagwa said it should also be borne in mind that the majority of members who founded the ZNA were former freedom fighters, who, since 1980, have attained retirement age.
"The youngest of such members at independence was 18 years of age and 33 years down the line those members are now 51 years old and have to retire according to the regulations. Any pause in replacing members wasted through retirement, resignations, deaths, court martial dismissals and other causes, creates shortfalls which take time to fill thereby affecting the strength of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and its effectiveness," he said.
The minister said the ZDF, therefore, needed to continuously recruit as part of the replacement process.
He added that training of ZDF members was a process and not an event, while explaining to the legislators that it took six months to train a general duty soldier and 18 months to train an officer cadet, resulting in threats in national security if those gaps were not filled by new recruitment.
Source - newsday
