Zimbabwe withdraws military hands back law enforcement to police

END OF OPERATION RESTORE LEGACY

PRESS STATEMENT BY THE COMMANDER ZIMBABWE NATIONAL ARMY: LIEUTENANT GENERAL PHILLIP VALERIO SIBANDA:

18 DECEMBER 2017

Good Morning Zimbabwe!!

The Defence and Security Services, come before you, once again, to pronounce the end of ‘Operation Restore Legacy’.

‘Operation Restore Legacy’ was launched on 13 November 2017 and its main objective was to remove criminals that had surrounded the former President resulting in anxiety and despondency amongst our people. While some of the individuals have been accounted for, others skipped the country. This notwithstanding, the objectives of the operation have to a large extent been achieved. Besides the above-mentioned objective, Operation Restore Legacy has had wider implications on the political, economic and social activities of our people. In this regard, a new political dispensation has been ushered-in to take Zimbabwe into its rightful place within the SADC and the world at large.

The nation will recall that before the statement that was issued by the Commander Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General Constantino Guveya Dominic Nyikadzino Chiwenga on 13 November 2017, many political economic and security events had taken place all of which had the effect of causing anxiety and despondency among the generality of our people, as well as destabilizing the Defence and Security Services of our country. The General’s statement was followed by a series of political events, the highlights of which were the resignation of the former President, Cde RG Mugabe, from the seat of power; followed by the inauguration of His Excellency, President Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, as the second executive President and Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces since the country’s Independence in 1980. Since then the appointment of a new cabinet on 30 November 2017, and the holding of the Extra-Ordinary Congress of the ruling ZANU-PF Party and many other events are now history which we have all been witnesses to. As a result of these political developments, normalcy has returned to our country. It is for this reason that as your Defence and Security Services we announce the end of ‘Operation Restore Legacy’ today, the 18th December 2017.

We want to take this opportunity to thank all Zimbabweans for their support, patience and understanding during the five weeks of ‘Operation Restore Legacy’. We understand and regret the inconvenience and anxiety that this operation might have caused in certain circles of our nation, but as most of our people would agree, this was all for the good of our nation.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the various Security Services who participated in the Operation for their diligence: courteousness when dealing with the public and commitment to duty. We also want to make special mention of the Veterans of our liberation struggle and former detainees and war collaborators for their mobilization efforts which resulted in the massive turnout by Zimbabweans for the solidarity march on 19 November 2017. This day was historic and will be remembered for generations to come.

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