'Zimbabwe security forces on high alert,' says Chiwenga

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces are aware of machinations by Zimbabwe's enemies to destablise the country using local elements and that such plots will come to naught. The country's security forces said the same plots were fomented during the liberation struggle but failed.

In an interview on the sidelines of the 36th Independence day celebrations at the National Sports Stadium in Harare yesterday, the ZDF Commander General Constantine Chiwenga said the security forces were on high alert to thwart such machinations.

He described the security forces as the country's national insurance policy that guaranteed peace and security all the time.

Said Gen Chiwenga: "We're aware of the ascetic warfare they're waging on the country - the country's political system, the country's economy and the Defence Forces of the country. There's a real assault on all the establishments of Zimbabwe."

He said the country was assured of victory. "But if we defeated them in 1979 and got our independence in 1980, what makes them feel that they can launch another war against us and defeat us? We're aware of them. We're aware of all the tricks. Even during the liberation struggle, we also had the same problems. We had numerous rebellions that you're aware of," Gen Chiwenga said.

"The parties were being split left, right and centre. They tried all the tricks. In the case of us, we had the parties being destroyed - Zapu and Zanu - when Frolizi was formed. It didn't work. We had the rebellions of the Nhari/Badza. We had the rebellions of Vashandi 1 and Vashandi 2," he said.

"Every trick which has been used, we've been prepared for it and here we are, prepared even more than what they expected."

Explaining the role of the army in the security of the nations, Gen Chiwenga said: "It's like yourself - for you to be comfortable you take an insurance policy either for your vehicle or your house or for yourself in the event that you die. We're the national insurance policy for the country. We guarantee the security of Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans must always go daily about their chores, sleep well, eat well because we're there as their security guarantors.

"We're the stockholders of the country. Some are stakeholders. Stakeholders will come and go but stockholders have nowhere to go so we're the stockholders, we came with it (Zimbabwe)." Gen Chiwenga said all members of the Defence Forces were war veterans.

"Even when we're gone, there are also war veterans of the Mozambican campaign where we spent 10 years trying to bring peace in Mozambique," he said. "We've the DRC war veterans who fought in the DRC for four years. Every member of the Defence Forces you see is a war veteran in his own (right). If the Chinese have got their Mao Tse Tung, the Russians have their Lenin so we also have our own President Mugabe. His legacy will live forever."

General Chiwenga said the youths should remain grounded and never be swayed by misguided local and external forces. "The youths are the future leaders but they must be moulded," he said.

"They must be educated. They must be given the correct ideology. They must understand what Zimbabwe is all about. My message to the youth is that, learn from the past as the past informs your present situation and the present situation informs the future.

"We would want our youths to be disciplined. We would want them to be proud of Zimbabwe, to protect and cherish the history of Zimbabwe. To take Zimbabwe forward and never to be confused by any external influences, internal misguided influences. They must stick to the correct ideology.

"They must have pride of their own country. They only have one Zimbabwe." Gen Chiwenga said there were programmes in the pipeline such as the National Youths Service to inculcate in youths the values of the country's history.

Gen Chiwenga said the country's Look East Policy was bearing positive results as a counter measure to Western sanctions. He said the illegal sanctions were imposed as a warning to other developing countries not to challenge the policies of their colonial masters. "The Look East Policy pronounced by the President has also helped us because it's not the North or the Western countries that have got what we need.

"The world is now a village and so the East and the South-South cooperation have helped us, coupled with our self-reliance through the establishment of the defence and security forces," said Gen Chiwenga.