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Malawi Defence Boss Hails Zim

The Herald (Harare)
NEWS
October 22, 2004
Posted to the web October 22, 2004
Harare
VISITING Malawi Defence Forces Commander General Marko Daiton Chiziko has
hailed Zimbabwe, saying the country has sacrificed a lot for the betterment of
the region and the African continent as a whole.
He was speaking at a reception hosted for him by his Zimbabwe counterpart,
General Constantine Chiwenga, at Army Headquarters in Harare on Wednesday
evening.
"In Mozambique, Zimbabwe was involved in bringing peace and recently in the
Democratic Republic of Congo and those of us who have eyes to see we wouldn't
be talking about DRC had it not been for Zimbabwe's intervention," said Gen
Chiziko.
"This is very important because DRC probably could have been a divided
country."
The Malawi general said the land issue in Zimbabwe was an internal problem,
which the country was capable of resolving, no matter how long it might take.
"The land reform programme will come to an end and the people of Zimbabwe will
enjoy the fruits of their suffering," he said.
"As Africans we always think that advanced things come from whites; we should
not underrate ourselves. When we empower our people as Zimbabwe has done, they
will do their best to produce much better than the whites."
Speaking at the same occasion, Gen Chiwenga paid tribute to President Mugabe
for fulfilling the goals of the liberation struggle by giving people land,
which was previously owned by the white minority.
"May I reiterate that Zimbabwe was born from a bitter war with our former
colonisers, Britain, for economic emancipation of which equitable distribution
of the land was the cornerstone of the liberation struggle," said Gen Chiwenga.
"We could not do this because of the 1979 Lancaster House constitution which
everybody thought would be honoured but, alas, the other party did not honour
it.
"As ZDF, we are fully behind President Mugabe and you are visiting our country
at a time when the economic landscape is improving for the better."
Earlier in the day, Gen Chiziko was taken for a tour of farms in Shamva to see
the success of the land reform programme embarked upon by the Government.
He is also expected to visit some military units, training establishments and
an A2 model farm.
The aim of his visit was to exchange views with his counterpart and further
enhance the existing relationships between the two defence forces within the
framework of the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC).

   

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