MDC accuses government of building up arms stocks

By Tichaona Sibanda
28 May 2007

A former senior police officer in Zimbabwe on Monday claimed the massive build up of arms and manpower by the regime is aimed at crushing the opposition from within the country.

Isaac Dziya, a former assistant commissioner with the Zimbabwe Republic Police, told Newsreel a recruitment drive by the police to beef up its force ahead of next year’s presidential and parliamentary polls was unwarranted.

In the last two years government has been steadily beefing up its security services with the acquisition of new military hardware and observers have been questioning the motives behind such moves for a country that is not at war.

‘We have the Airforce buying fighter jets from China, the army stocking up arms and the police buying water cannons from Israel and yet the country is not at war with anyone. This massive build up is meant to deal with the opposition,’ Dziya said.

The state controlled Herald reported on Monday that the police force was looking at recruiting 20 000 more officers before next year’s elections. Dziya added that the timing of the recruitment drive would only increase tension in a restive country where inflation is reigning supreme.

‘They should be cutting down on military spending and cutting down the size of the security forces to come up with a manageable professional army. This will help using that extra money to feed the people who are currently starving and to develop the country,’ said Dziya.

Dziya also presented a report on the role of the armed forces in a new Zimbabwe during a strategic MDC workshop in Birmingham on Saturday. He told participants if the military, police and intelligence officers cannot pay allegiance to the state instead of a political party, they should all resign.

‘In a new political dispensation, if armed forced commanders say they cannot salute a new Head of State because of their own beliefs, then the easy way out for them is to resign. The normal practice for any military set up is to support the state and not a political party,’ Dziya said.