Bring back the army magazine

EDITOR — It is without doubt that the Zimbabwe Defence Forces have become a significant player in local news, more so after Operation Restore Legacy which ushered in the new dispensation in Zimbabwe.

This has put the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) in the media spotlight so much that they are in the news almost daily.

On television, newspapers, radio and social media, the military is now under spotlight around the clock. This kind of publicity is healthy since they are a people’s army.

However, there is so much about ZDF in the news that at times it’s almost impossible to sift through and find the correct version of the same story in circulation. Such a scenario requires the ZDF to have a mouthpiece through which the people of Zimbabwe can always have the official and correct position regarding the various activities of the ZDF locally, regionally and abroad.

This is where the Zimbabwe National Army magazine becomes handy, it has to be brought back under a new title, Zimbabwe Defence Forces magazine largely replacing the two — Zimbabwe National Army and Air Force of Zimbabwe magazines.

It has to be brought into circulation, not as a quarterly, but as a robust informative monthly publication serving to tell the official story of the esteemed Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

To stop the magazine facing the fate of all freebies, ZDF can make the magazine available — both in military camps and in the streets — for a nominal fee.

A subscription facility will enable the magazine to reach readers in every corner of the country and beyond. The magazine will tell the official story of the ZDF to counter the negativity, half truths and outright lies that are being peddled by anti-Zimbabwe elements within and without our national borders.

Zimbabwe in general and the ZDF in particular have been under bad publicity for some time now and the magazine will be one step in countering that.