THE National Defence University (NDU) has asked Parliament for budgetary support to restock its library to meet the standards required of universities.
BY VENERANDA LANGA
Air Vice-Marshal Michael Tedzani Moyo, who is the NDU commandant, recently appeared before the Ronald Muderedzwa-led Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence where he also emphasised the need to ensure good dietary provisions. “The NDU has the same problems as the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and Airforce. These include problems of uniforms and medicals, as well as debts in respect of electricity and water,” Moyo said.
“When I was appointed commandant, there were less than 50 members at National Defence College because nothing was happening, and we used to pay $15 000 in water bills per month, but now as a university with more than 300 members we pay $15 000 to $20 000, and that causes problems.”
He said last year, NDU was allocated $1,2 million which was, however, never disbursed to the institution.
For 2018, NDU is likely to be allocated $16 million, of which $8 million will be for public sector investment projects.
“We will be starting with building the library and thereafter a headquarters and a convention centre. We were affiliated to the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and, therefore, our students graduated with other UZ students. The current intake that started in August is the first intake under the NDU, and the first group is expected to graduate in 2019,” Moyo said.
Moyo told Parliament that if the NDU library is not well-stocked, it risked being condemned by the Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE).
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“The NDU is lucky to have infrastructure that was constructed for the National Defence College. However, the role of the college has since changed following the transformation of the National Defence College to the National Defence University.
However, the infrastructure we have is not adequate to meet the standards of a university as required by ZIMCHE,” he said.
