Zim Government Confirms Indonesia Arms Deal
Cabinet has confirmed the Government’s plans to purchase weapons and ammunition in Indonesia.
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga was recently in Indonesia for the 2022 Sector Ministers’ Meeting on Sanitation and Water for All where he visited an arms-manufacturing company in the Asian country.
On Tuesday this week, Acting Information minister Jenfan Muswere told a post-Cabinet briefing that Cabinet had adopted Chiwenga’s report that included the intention to buy ammunition from Indonesia. Said Muswere:
In addition, PT LEN of Indonesia will explore investment opportunities in the renewable energy and rail signalling systems, while PT Pindad will explore partnerships with authorities in the defence industry.
Chiwenga arrived in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on 15 May on government business.
Soon after his arrival in the Asian country, state media news agency Antara revealed that part of Chiwenga’s itinerary included visiting the state-owned weapon maker PT Pindad in Bandung to explore the possibility of an arms purchase.
PT Pindad is an Indonesian state-owned arms-manufacturing company specialising in military hardware.
It sells a host of lethal weapons, from sidearms to submachine guns, assault rifles, battle rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles, grenade launchers and armoured vehicles.
Zimbabwe also sources weapons from Eastern Europe and China. The southern African country used to buy arms from Britain and other European countries before the bloc imposed sanctions on Harare over alleged human rights violations.
