Zimbabwe Defence Deputy Minister, Levi Mayihlome, has said that junior Zimbabwean soldiers are living in abject poverty and are struggling to afford food, accommodation and transport.
Soldiers are often seen wearing torn uniforms and boots due to lack of budget allocation from government.
Mayihlome said the lack of budget is affecting training programs and equipment replacement.
Every Year, we plan training activities, but because of inadequate funding, we end up abandoning the process. This has resulted in poor discipline among soldiers and we have many cases of drug abuse an corruption.
Mayihlome said the Zimbabwe National Army is still using equipment that was inherted from the Rhodesin government, and this too has been depleted.
He called for the government to re-introduce incentives for soldiers such as mortgages and car loans to improve soldiers living conditions.
