The Sunday Mail
Air Marshal Perrance Shiri
For one to understand the Air Force of Zimbabwe’s vision, one should be guided by our motto, “Our Wings Are The Fortress of The Nation”.
Wings means jets, helicopters, aeroplanes — fortresses and weaponry featured across air platforms for the defence of the nation.
Basically, the vision is to have a patriotic and highly professional Air Force capable of defending Zimbabwe’s airspace, territorial integrity and national interest.
If we meet that objective, we would have created a conducive environment for our country’s future development. The people will be able to go about their day-to-day economic activities without fear of destabilisation from enemies of the State.
The vision remains relevant because of its broad perspective.
As long as the people and Air Force of Zimbabwe are patriotic, the nation will surmount all difficulties.
For example, we have gone through a difficult patch of sanctions.
We know that as we go into the future, there will be a lot of new challenges. However, as long as our people remain patriotic and professional, they will be able to tackle any future challenges.
The situation can be vibrant, dynamic and can change. The nature of threats can change. What is important is to have a flexible force which can adapt and remain determined to confront the threat professionally.
The most important way of ensuring our people’s security is sharpening our spears; this means constant training and re-training of our forces and reviewing curricula.
We see training as the heart of the organisation.
The Air Force of Zimbabwe has become a learning organisation. About 40 percent of our officers hold Master’s degrees. And 90 percent have first degrees. In addition, 60 percent of particular ranks hold either university degrees or diplomas. We have over 1 000 artisans (Class 1 journeymen) and scores of pilots.
So, we are prepared for any threat.
There is constant training and focus on acquiring civilian qualifications.
The Air Force of Zimbabwe has established a legacy of philanthropy through the Air Force Commander’s Charity Fund.
That fund targets disadvantaged communities. We have been funding the education of less-privileged children, offering them scholarships. Some are in universities.
Furthermore, we help the elderly, orphans and disabled. The Air Force of Zimbabwe has been donating computers to many schools countrywide.
On the health front, we built a state-of-the-art clinic and staff accommodation in Dande.
We also built a primary school and teachers’ accommodation in Dande, and President Mugabe honoured us by opening the school.
Resources are now being mobilised towards construction of a secondary school in Murongwe. We also want to establish a vocational training centre there. The area is along the Zimbabwe-Mozambique Border; we want to prove a point that civilisation and development can start from such a remote place.
After vocational training centres, we want to construct training centres for youths countrywide so as to equip them with life skills.
Youngsters should have skills after completing training.
We have travelled a long journey since Independence. In the process, we came across a lot of ups and downs. Nevertheless, we managed to leave some footprints which is our legacy. One of the Air Force of Zimbabwe’s legacies is the military’s subservience to political leadership since 1980. We have co-existed with our politicians peacefully. We have complemented each other.
Politicians give us direction, playing their role in mobilising people, while we concentrate on providing security to the people of Zimbabwe.
You may have heard the history of other African countries where whenever there were difficulties, the military was manipulated by other countries to cause instability or even overthrow a democratically-elected Government. We went through difficult phases, especially the Land Reform Programme, and earned ourselves a lot of enemies.
Were it in other African or Third World countries, the military would have been used to destabilise the political programme.
However, in Zimbabwe, we were together with the Government throughout the Land Reform Programme.
We endured and succeeded.
Look at what happened to (Kwame) Nkrumah of Ghana, (Patrice) Lumumba of Democratic Republic of Congo, and (Salvador) Allende of Chile.
The military was used to dislodge them. History is littered with experiences of that nature where the military failed to be subservient to political leadership.
So, we would like to be patriotic, subservient; having played that role.
Another legacy is the educational capacity of our organisation. At Independence in 1980, we hardly had a member with a diploma.
There was only Dr Muchemwa, Dr Dube and one or two others. However, we introduced a culture of reading. I have given you the statistics.
There is so much competition in terms of people wanting to explore new areas of knowledge.
If you spend a day at one Air Force of Zimbabwe base, you would think you are at the University of Zimbabwe.
People are reading and talking about advancing themselves. It is so pleasing, encouraging.
Technology has also enabled us to cope because of the culture we have introduced. We do not force people; this is voluntary.
Our Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General Constantino Guveya Dominic Nyikadzino Chiwenga, has led by example.
Recently, he attained a doctorate, and we all want to take a leaf from his leadership and example.
The Air Force of Zimbabwe has also established a legacy of equality and fairness.
Before Independence, Europeans segregated blacks. However, we have managed to include everyone regardless of race.
We embrace men and women from every race and tribe. That way, we learn from each other’s cultures.
There is also a legacy of courage and gallantry.
This country was taken back from white settlers through a protracted armed struggle. A lot of people perished in the process.
That experience and history has helped shape the modern-day defence force.
We should be selfless and able to sacrifice even our lives for the greater good of our people.
The Air Force of Zimbabwe has acquitted itself well wherever it has been deployed.
We deployed in Mozambique (1980-1992), and came back proud after having brought stability to Mozambique.
In 1998, we were called to assist the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo when rebels from Uganda and Rwanda invaded that country. We launched our expeditionary forces, establishing ourselves as the air force and combined defence forces. We are proud that we achieved our objective.
The rebels and their sponsors failed to overthrow the democratically-elected government of President Kabila.
So, it was the commitment of our officers; that preparedness to sacrifice their lives for the greater good of the people. We are proud commanders of very courageous soldiers.
I hope future generations will take a leaf from our experiences.
Air Marshal Perrance Shiri is the Commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe. He made these remarks at a media conference in Harare last Friday ahead of Defence Forces Day 2017. Transcription by The Sunday Mail’s Debra Matabvu and Emmanuel Kafe
