The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) has distanced itself from social media allegations that it is backing the citizens demonstration on July 3.
Military: We've Got Nothing To Do With 31 July | ARE THEY TELLING THE TRUTH? https://t.co/e0q28AQyMG
— ZimEye (@ZimEye) July 18, 2020
In a statement, Defence Forces Commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda said the allegations are a figment of the social media websites imaginations and not of the ZDF.
“The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) notes with concern the concerted efforts by some sections of the private media, which are bent on dragging the ZDF into their political scheming. This is evidenced by an online news item titled, ‘Military backing demo’ published by Transform Zimbabwe on Chimurenga Radio on 13 July 2020.
“These claims and assertions are the work of very fertile imagination of the authors of these articles, which members of the public should dismiss with the contempt they deserve. They are aimed at unfairly using the security establishment to drum up support for their planned illegal anti-Government protests. It should be noted that, as a professional, loyal and patriotic Defence Force, the ZDF does not involve itself in anti-people activities that are designed to achieve anti-Government political and economic objectives by some malcontents within our citizenry,” he said.
The ZDF Commander added that the country’s military is guided by Section 212 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which mandates the Defence Forces to protect Zimbabwe, its people, its national security and interests and its territorial integrity and to uphold this Constitution, “and not in shenanigans as those purveyed by the authors of the articles mentioned above”.-