“Zanu (PF) is actually running a parallel government. The Minister of Finance says we do not have money for recruitments since our fiscus is ailing but they continue to recruit soldiers,” he said in an exclusive interview.
“Several other government departments have lost workers through retirements, deaths or displaced on various grounds but they are not recruiting because there is no money,” he added.
Minister of Defence Emmerson Mnangagwa last week responded to a question by Chinhoyi MP, Stewart Garadhi in the House of Assembly by saying: “The current authorised strength (of the army) is 40,000 and currently we stand at only 36,000.”
“We are not at war or do we have any threats from any country so why recruit soldiers when we not even recruiting nurses. They are recruiting soldiers for elections and not to protect the country as they claim. They know they are recruiting foot soldiers to intimidate the civilians to make them vote for Zanu (PF),” said Madzore.
When asked whether soldiers who retire from the force continue to be on the government payroll Madzore said: “It has been kept a secret and we do not even know what the right hand in government is doing. When we summon some of the soldiers and leaders to Parliament they do not divulge such information on the basis of not revealing security secrets.”
Post published in: News