'We'll go to war over school pledge,' says Mohadi

THE national school pledge introduced by the government on the opening day of schools this week is not a Zanu-PF scheme and the country stands ready to go to war defending such values, the Minister of State Security Kembo Mohadi has said. Mohadi said Zimbabwe's security system would do everything within its means and capacity to defend its motherland, economic prosperity and keep the peace. The national pledge seeks to instil patriotism and commitment to the national interest among children of school-going age.

Addressing senior police officers who are attending Course 5 of 2016 at the National Defence College yesterday on "Zimbabwe's national security concept: a proposed model", Mohadi said the pledge fell within a category of vital interests at the heart of Zimbabwe's statehood, which was the preservation of values and cultural heritage.

He said the pledge was being resisted by agents of regime change operating locally. Mohadi cited the MDC parties and civic society as part of the local regime change agents.

"In relation to Zimbabwe, vital interests are those which the country will not hesitate to go to war over… The Republic of Zimbabwe has an interest in the preservation of its cultural heritage and the national fundamental values including Zimbabwe's national aspirations, ethos of the liberation struggle, Zimbabwe's cultural diversity, belief systems and indigenous languages," the minister said.

"We've a national pledge, which all of you are aware is resisted by the local regime change agents, the MDC formations being one of those agents, the civil society and their allies. This is a right from our Constitution. The preamble of our constitution, which we all agree on, has that pledge. It's not (Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Lazarus) Dokora's imagination.

"It's derived from the preamble of this Constitution, the Zimbabwean Constitution. So anybody who says that this is Zanu-PF's imagination, say no, it's the Constitution that we crafted together."

Mohadi said Zimbabwe had an interest in ensuring and sustaining its economic progress and prosperity. The country's national security was under threat from a number of drivers, which included a regime change agenda, economic sanctions, hostile ideologies, poverty and inequality.

Commenting on the role of the intelligence services in maintaining security in the country, Mohadi said: "Intelligence is the foundation of our ability to take effective measures to provide for the security of Zimbabwe and its citizens.

"To manage risk effectively, we need the best possible information about threats we face and about the intentions, capabilities and activities of those who would do us harm. The best decisions regarding the scope and design of security programmes, the allocation of resources and the deployment of the assets can't be made unless the executive is accurately informed."