HARARE - The head of Zimbabwe's National Army, Lieutenant General Phillip Sibanda has said army charities meant to take care of war victims and widows of fallen soldiers are collapsing ostensibly because of targeted sanctions. (Pictured: Lt Gen Phillip Sibanda)
Lt Gen Sibanda told delegates at a luncheon held for the sponsors of the army charity organisations in Harare that sanctions by Britain and other Western nations had caused the collapse of five charities run by the national army. He did not explain how a cocktail of targeted measures targeting a select group of the Zimbabwe political and military elite had jeopardised the army charities or exerted a negative impact on the humanitarian situation of those in the army charities or the greater population.
The army runs five charities, Tsanga Lodge Convalescent Centre, ZNA Schools and Welfare Trust, ZNA Benevolent Fund, Patients’ Welfare Fund, Army Widows and Orphans Benevolent Fund. “Our five charity organisations are facing serious challenges due to sanctions and lack of funding from the fiscus,” Sibanda said. “The illegal sanctions imposed on the country have adversely affected all government arms and the uniformed forces have not been spared.”
He said the inmates at the Tsanga lodge require the comfort that is enjoyed by other citizens. Tsanga lodge accommodates injured officers mainly undergoing physiotherapy. The facility can only accomodate 40 inmates, he said, adding the inmates were “innocent victims” of the sanctions regime. While it is not clear how a military embargo outlawing gun-running with the Zimbabwe army is affecting the charities, Sibanda’s assertions do suggest that those at the top of the army are trying to use others, including injured rank-and-file soldiers and desperate widows, to get around them.
Sibanda is one of those military generals who have prospered in Zimbabwe as the rest of the country plunges into ever-deeper economic chaos. The powerful army commander is one of more than 200 senior officials linked to President Robert Mugabe who remains subject to a travel ban and an asset freeze in the European Union in spite of the creation of a power-sharing government with the former opposition last year. They are accused of electoral theft, undermining democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
Post published in: News