The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) have distanced themselves from the actions of a retired officer who was among the lecturers arrested at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) earlier this week during a protest over salaries and working conditions.
Retired Group Captain Boncase Mwakorera, along with Professor Obvious Vengeyi (Religious Studies) and Dr. Desmond Ndedzu (Economics), was taken into custody after participating in the protest on campus.
Initial reports inaccurately described Mwakorera as an active member of the Air Force of Zimbabwe and the chair of the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the Zimbabwe National Defence University.
However, in a statement, the ZDF clarified that while Mwakorera did serve in the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), he retired on May 31, 2021. Part of the statement reads:
The Officer served in the AFZ and retired on May 31 2021 in the rank of Group Captain.
In such instances, it is prudent to accurately capture that he is a retired Group Captain. Failure to correctly capture such details has the potential to mislead the public that the actions by the individual are associated with the ZDF.
In the particular case of the arrest of Group Captain (Retired) Mwakorera at the University of Zimbabwe, it should be categorically known that the ZDF is not associated with his actions.
The ZDF is a disciplined force dedicated to protecting Zimbabwe, its people, its national security and interests and territorial integrity, as enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The ZDF emphasised the importance of accurately representing Mwakorera’s status to prevent any misleading interpretations by the public.
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