In response to 22 more jumbos killed in Hwange: Zimbabwe has, in the Central Intelligence Organisation, police, army, air force and national parks, a rather bloated security establishment.
- Operationally, however, it is rather ineffective. All its resources seem to go to wages, leaving little for operations and capital investment. The results have been as follows: Leaky borders through which contraband, drugs and game included, is smuggled, Diamonds and precious minerals are also illegally airlifted out of the country,
- The airspace is not secure. Crooks fly in and out of the country as they wish only to be discovered should their craft crash
- Big game, such as elephants, rhinoceros and lions, is being poached to extinction.
It should be common sense to government and indeed to the Joint Operations Command that something needs to be urgently done. It is not the numbers that count, but the ability to pack a punch, to mobilise and sustain operations.
Less than 40% of the total budget to the services should go to salaries and wages and the rest reserved for training, equipment, consumables and services. Contrary to some pseudo patriotic positions, reform, to enhance quality, raise morale, increase efficiency and productivity, is long overdue. Security services are like boxers or football teams. The overweight, the mismanaged, the ill-resourced, the hungry, the unmotivated and the inadequately trained lose the fights or the contests. It is that simple.
