Zim creates reserve army
26/03/2007 20:08 - (SA)

Johannesburg - President Robert Mugabe's government has established a reserve force comprising veterans of the country's independence war to shore up the army, according to new regulations released on Monday.

"There is hereby established a reserve force of the army to be known as the war veterans reserve," reads part of the regulations, which were published in a government gazette.

The commander of the Zimbabwe National Army will be in charge of recruitment of the war veterans, according to the Defence (War Veterans Reserve) Regulations. The national army is already around 40 000 strong.

News of the new reserve comes amid heightened political tension in the country following the beating of opposition leaders two weeks ago and a subsequent police crackdown.

There are also claims the incident has heightened dissent within the top ranks of Zanu-PF, with senior party figures said to be against Mugabe's plans to stand in presidential elections next year. War veterans are seen as key supporters of Mugabe.

Creation of reserve force

The regulations did not say how large the reserve force would be, or how much each reservist would earn while on duty.

Shadow defence minister in the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Giles Mutsekwa said the creation of the reserve force was a reaction to the political situation in the country.

"They (the government) no longer have faith in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. They would not rely on them to quell disturbances taking place in the country at the moment," he said.

War veterans were used seven years ago by the ruling party to spearhead a sometimes violent campaign of land invasions ahead of parliamentary elections that Mugabe's ruling party almost lost to the then fledgling MDC.

Last week the government denied reports that Angola was due to send more than 2 500 members of its paramilitary police, the Ninjas, to bolster the Zimbabwean police force.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,9294,2-11-1662_2089428,00.html