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(TALKZIMBABWE) No army salute for Tsvangirai: Mnangagwa

No army salute for Tsvangirai: Mnangagwa
Posted by By Floyd Nkomo at 28 July, at 13 : 00 PM

NO person outside the chain-of-military-command is eligible for salute by service chiefs, Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has said. This means that even Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, as he is not within the military chain-of-military-command, is not eligible for salute.

“Only those in the chain of the command are eligible for a salute. All those outside this command are not entitled to any salute,” said Minister Mnangagwa, while responding to questions from Members of Parliament during the Question-and-Answer Session in the House of Assembly.

THE Question was posed by Gutu North MP Edmore Maramwidze, who wanted clarification on whether the utterances by Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba that the army would not salute any President without liberation war credentials were personal or the ministry’s policy.

The Minister said according to the chain of military command, at the helm is the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the President, in between is the Minister of Defence, followed by the Commander of the ZDF and then Commanders of the Zimbabwe National Army and Air Force of Zimbabwe.

He said subordinates salute their superiors and as a matter of tradition, the seniors can reciprocate the salute.

The Minister’s statement clears misconception by some political pundits, who have been challenging the service chiefs to salute Prime Minister Tsvangirai.

Minister Mnangagwa reiterated that Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayamba’s political statements were an expression of his personal views as guaranteed by the Constitution and did not reflect the views of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

Labels: ARMED FORCES, EMMERSON MNANGAGWA, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI

posted by MrK @ 2:28 PM