Zimbabwe Defense Forces Remain Shield Against Neocolonialism, President Says

"As the Zimbabwe Defense Forces, you remain the epitome of our resistance to the neo-colonial onslaught and machinations by our erstwhile detractors and former colonizers," he said.

"We recognize and remain proud that ZDF continue to excel as guarantors of peace and security in line with the Constitution," he assured.

"This track record and culture of hard work, vigilance, zeal, commitment and professionalism as well as your collective patriotic and Pan-African spirit must be continuously entrenched across all our security-related training institutions," he stressed.

"Similarly, the growing transnational nature of armed conflicts in Africa and internationalization of intrastate conflicts bring to the fore the need to share lessons with regards peace building, conflict prevention, management and resolution in our sub-region and the continent as a whole," he said.

"The participation of students drawn from countries such as Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia and Nigeria is applauded. [...] Such participation will undoubtedly enhance collective regional security and contribute to the silencing of guns on the continent," he added.

"Zimbabwe’s history is embedded in the liberation struggle to which China played a pivotal role. To date, the relations between Zimbabwe and China continue to deepen across all sectors, under the Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership framework, for shared prosperity," he said.