By JAMES KUNDA –
.Chimese
ZAMBIA Air Force (ZAF) Commander Eric Chimese has urged defence force personnel in the country to maintain a healthy lifestyle for effective individual service delivery on duty.
Lieutenant-General Chimese said officers should abhor vices such as the practice of unsafe sex which heightened the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and encouraged those on antiretroviral therapy to continue with medication.
Gen Chimese said defence personnel should also abhor practices such as gender-based violence which was a major cause of disunity at family level.
He was speaking at a Zambia Army officers’ annual ball held at Arakan Barracks in Lusaka on Sunday.
The event was held under the theme ‘Celebrating peace and tranquillity: Moving towards a prosperous Smart Zambia, leaving no one behind’.
Gen Chimese urged the officers to embrace institutional initiatives such as agriculture, which not only made service organisations resourcefully self-reliant but also contributed to national food security.
He urged the officers to abhor practices such as partisan politics which were detrimental to career development in the defence force.
Gen Chimese commended the Zambia Army officers for the discipline exhibited during local and international tour of duty.
He said he was elated by the invitation of Army Commander Paul Mihova for him to grace the event as by doing so, cooperation between the defence forces was harnessed.
