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“I take joy in noting that despite the existence of the illegal sanctions, the Zimbabwe Military Academy has continued to carry out its mandate and responsibility of educating and training junior officers in order to provide the nation with future military leaders of exemplary character and loyalty,” he said.

President Mugabe said the success of Regular Officer Cadet Courses since independence “answers the need to have a continous programme of recruiting young officers so that the Zimbabwe Defence Forces is constantly rejuvinated”.
“It is common knowledge that organisations lose manpower through various ways such as death, retirement, dismissals, and voluntary retirement. Such losses have to be replaced through training programmes like the Regular Officer Cadet Course,” he said.

President Mugabe applauded the ZMA for ensuring that students had an opportunity during the course to visit Chimoio in Mozambique and the Freedom Camp shrines in Zambia.

“The trips served to broaden their comprehension of our country’s history. The visits were meant to allow the officer cadets to visualise the agonising and unforgettable journey that characterised the struggle for our independence and, consequently, enhance their understanding of the need to jealously and continously safeguard our national independence and sovereignty,” he said.

The Regular Officer Cadet Course started on August 16 2010 with 155 officer cadets who included five students from Namibia.
Of the 140 Zimbabwean cadets who constituted the initial enrolment, 100 were recruited from the country’s 10 administrative provinces while 40 were serving members of the Zimbabwe National Army.

The Namibian Defence Forces provided a contigent of four male cadets and one female. Only 88 out of the initial 155 officer cadets graduated yesterday while 67 failed to meet the rigorous demands of training.

Of those who graduated, 11 were females and President Mugabe applauded the ZDF for embracing gender equality.
The President also hailed the symbiotic association between the ZMA and the Midlands State University.
“Regular Officer Cadet Course number 3/28/10, in similar manner to its predecessor, is graduating with a Diploma in Military Training and Education, in association with the MSU. This is indeed a positive development for the academy, which if properly nurtured, should culminate in cadets graduating with degrees,” he said.

The President said the graduation of Namibian officer cadets showed the cordial relations between the two countries.