DEFENCE Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has dismissed allegations that army units have deployed across the country to campaign for Zanu PF as the country gears for elections, due next year.

MDC-T legislator for Mazowe Central, Shepherd Mushonga claimed in parliament that senior army officers were being deployed across in the provinces for political purposes.

Senior officers from the Defence Forces have in the past been accused of engaging in political repression and forcing people to vote for President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party.

But Mnangagwa said the presence of army personnel around the country was in line with the “uniformed forces’ constitutional mandate”.

“ZDF garrisons and cantonments are strategically distributed throughout the country in order to fulfil the constitutional mandate of defending the territorial integrity of the country and protection of vital interests.

"It would be folly for the ZDF to ever think of defending the whole country without a corresponding spatial or geographical distribution of its members and resources."

He said his ministry did not have any records of the alleged deployments for political purposes.

"The ministry of defence did not deploy majors as alleged by the Honourable Member, Shepherd Mushonga.

"(Our) records do not reflect the issuance on operational directive or order for deployment of such officers in accordance with the ZDF standard operational procedure," he said.

Mnangagwa said the under ZDF’s administrative policies, at least ten percent of the active force was always on leave during peace times.

This, the minister said, explained the presence of soldiers in communities and should not be misconstrued as deployment.