HARARE \u2013 The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) has furiously denied allegations that it has deployed special forces in the country.<\/p>\n
This follows an article which claimed that the military had deployed its special troops in the country to gather intelligence and gauge the popularity of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the ruling Zanu-PF party. The article alleges that the deployments were motivated by the deteriorating economic conditions.<\/p>\n
This did not go down well with the ZNA who issued a strongly worded statement denying the allegations. The statement which was issued by ZNA spokesperson, Lieutenant Alphios Makotore accused the Zimbabwe Independent of being malicious and of issuing outright falsehoods.<\/p>\n
The statement read; \u201cThe Zimbabwe National Army would like to categorically refute the false allegations published by the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper of 07-13 February 2020 in an article titled \u201cPanicky army chiefs, deploy special forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not true that the military has deployed as alleged by this malicious newspaper article, which is false in all respects, hence it cannot go unchallenged.<\/p>\n
Besides being malicious, the news article raises some serious allegations, which are outright falsehoods against the Zimbabwe National Army. It should be therefore noted that the Zimbabwe National Army is apolitical and its roles and duties are clearly spelt out in the Constitution of Zimbabwe and amplified in the Defence Forces Policy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The statement went on to say: \u201cthe Army is a professional national institution that is guided by the country\u2019s Constitution. When it deploys, the nation is accordingly informed. There is, therefore, no secret deployments as falsely alleged in the newspaper article.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn view of the increasing media queries on ZDF deployments against machete-wielding gangs, the so-called \u201cMashurugwi\u201d, members of the public should be made aware that it is purely the responsibility of the ZRP to deal decisively with the menace. We are convinced that the ZRP will be equal to the task and bring all the culprits to book.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ZDF are committed to ensuring that peace and security are maintained throughout the country. Members of the media should, therefore, feel free to clear any doubts on any issues involving our members that may have the potential to destabilise the security situation in the country. The clearance can be done with relevant military authorities nearest to them,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HARARE \u2013 The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) has furiously denied allegations that it has deployed special forces in the country. This follows an article which claimed that the military had deployed its special troops in the country to gather intelligence and gauge the popularity of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the ruling Zanu-PF party. The article […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":19153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[38,511,661],"class_list":{"0":"post-19152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-policy","9":"tag-zanu-pf","10":"tag-defence-forces","11":"tag-zrp"},"yoast_head":"\n