Ideology, Civilian Authority and the Zimbabwean Military

Abstract

Since 2002, many scholars and Zimbabwean politicians have argued that Zimbabwe's Joint Operations Command (JOC), which comprises the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) commander and heads of the army, prisons, police, air force and intelligence, increasingly poses a threat to civilian authority. A notorious statement made by the ZDF commander Vitalis Zvinavashe in 2002 is often cited as evidence of the JOC or military elites' partisan support for President Robert Gabriel Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front ZANU[PF]) party. This article argues that Zvinavashe's 2002 statement has been interpreted in selective ways, and that external factors that played a crucial part in precipitating his intervention in 2002 have been neglected. This has resulted in an impoverished understanding of the full import of Zvinavashe's 2002 statement. Using Zvinavashe as an example, the article also demonstrates that some military elites' allegiance to Mugabe and ideological commitment to ZANU(PF) rule must be seen as unstable and contradictory. Be that as it may, Mugabe retains effective control of military elites for a variety of reasons, namely power derived from his status as ZDF commander in chief and his high position in ZANU(PF)'s 1970s nationalist hierarchy; his shrewd use of prebends to maintain loyalty; and the staunch ideological commitment of sections of the military elite to ZANU(PF).

Notes

¹ See for example G.C. Mazarire, ‘ZANU(PF) and the Government of National Unity 2009–12’ in B. Raftopoulos (ed), The Hard Road to Reform: The Politics of Zimbabwe's Global Political Agreement (Harare, Weaver Press, 2013); S. Ndlovu Gatsheni, ‘Nationalist-Military Alliance and the Fate of Democracy in Zimbabwe’, African Journal of Conflict Resolution, 6, 1 (June 2006), pp. 49–80; K. Chitiyo, ‘The Case for Security Sector Reform in Zimbabwe’, Royal United Services Institute, www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/Zimbabwe_SSR_Report.pdf, retrieved on 1 June 2013; Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, ‘The Military Factor in Zimbabwe's Political and Electoral Affairs’, http://www.crisiszimbabwe.org/attachments/article/307/The%20Military%20Factor%20in%20Zimbabwe%20-%20Part%203.pdf, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

² Statement by Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) Commander Vitalis Musungwa Zvinavashe, Harare, 9 January 2002.

³ N. Cheeseman and B-M. Tendi, ‘Power-sharing in Comparative Perspective: The Dynamics of “Unity Government” in Kenya and Zimbabwe’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 48, 2 (June 2010), pp. 203–229, p. 217.

⁴ B. Raftopoulos, ‘An Overview of the Politics of the Global Political Agreement: National Conflict, Regional Agony, International Dilemma’ in B. Raftopoulos (ed), The Hard Road to Reform: The Politics of Zimbabwe's Global Political Agreement (Harare, Weaver Press, 2013), p. 16.

⁵ Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, ‘The Military Factor in Zimbabwe's Political and Electoral Affairs’; ‘The President Ends His Holiday’, Africa Confidential, 51, 3 (2010).

⁶ See M. Bratton and E. Masunungure, ‘Zimbabwe's Long Agony’, Journal of Democracy, 19, 4 (October 2008), pp. 41–55; M. Bratton and E. Masunungure, ‘The Anatomy of Political Predation: Leaders, Elites and Coalitions in Zimbabwe, 1980–2010’, Development Leadership Program, Research Paper 09 (January 2011).

⁷ M. Tsvangirai, Morgan Tsvangirai at the Deep End (London, Eye Books, 2011).

⁸Ibid.

⁹ E. Masunungure, Defying the Winds of Change – Zimbabwe's 2008 Elections (Harare, Weaver Press, 2009); Human Rights Watch, ‘Bullets for Each of You’: State-Sponsored Violence since Zimbabwe's March 29 elections', http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/zimbabwe0608/index.htm, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

¹⁰Ibid.

¹¹ ‘Tsvangirai Pulls Out of ‘Sham’ Zimbabwe Election’, Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/22/zimbabwe4, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

¹²Ibid.

¹³ See, for example, the comments by Morgan Tsvangirai in ‘Junta Rules Zimbabwe, Opposition Leader Says’, Cable News Network, http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/06/10/zimbabwe.junta/index.html, retrieved on 1 June 2013; and Roy Bennett in ‘Military Junta Rules Zimbabwe, Says MDC's Bennett’, British Broadcasting Corporation, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10784379, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

¹⁴ Bratton and Masunungure, ‘Zimbabwe's Long Agony’, p. 50.

¹⁵ Raftopoulos, ‘An Overview of the Politics of the Global Political Agreement’, p. 20.

¹⁶ Statement by ZDF Commander Zvinavashe.

¹⁷Ibid.

¹⁸ ‘Tortured Zimbabwe Journalist Dies’, British Broadcasting Corporation, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2461387.stm, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

¹⁹ ‘Mugabe Faces Coup Plot’, Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/may/29/zimbabwe.hugoyoung, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

²⁰ ‘Military Commander Denies Coup Plot’, IRIN, http://www.irinnews.org/printreport.aspx?reportid = 21898, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

²¹ See ‘Diplomatic Bag: The Inside Story’, British Broadcasting Corporation, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/672786.stm, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

²² Interview, Didymus Mutasa, 14 September 2005.

²³ Interview, Field Marshal Lord Charles Guthrie, 13 June 2012; see also ‘Lord Guthrie: ‘Tony's General’ Turns Defence into an Attack’, The Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/lord-guthrie-tonys-general-turns-defence-into-an-attack-399865.html, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

²⁴ ZANLA belonged to Mugabe's ZANU party. ZIPRA was the military wing of rival nationalist leader Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African National Peoples Union (ZAPU) party. Key military command posts have largely been dominated by former ZANLA guerrillas since 1980.

²⁵ Interview, Brigadier Vere Hayes (BMATT Commander), 20 February 2013.

²⁶ Communication from General Constantine Chiwenga, 4 June 2013.

²⁷ Interview, Colonel Lionel Dyck, 12 July 2012.

²⁸Ibid. General Rex Nhongo (Solomon Mujuru) was the ZANLA commander at independence and head of the military from 1980 until his retirement in 1992.

²⁹ ‘MDC Leader Tsvangirai Attacks Britain, South Africa’, The Herald, 19 December 2002.

³⁰ Interview, Colonel Lionel Dyck, 12 July 2012.

³¹Ibid.

³² ‘Mugabe Rejects ‘Foolhardy’ Exit Reports’, IOL News, http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/mugabe-rejects-foolhardy-exit-reports-1.99757, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

³³ ‘Army Chief Admits Country Deep In Crisis’, IRIN, http://www.irinnews.org/printreport.aspx?reportid = 40809, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

³⁴Ibid.

³⁵ ‘Zvinavashe Lambastes Government Over Food Security’, The Standard, 7 January 2005.

³⁶ ‘Opposition Retains House of Assembly’, The Standard, 28 April 2008.

³⁷ Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, ‘The Military Factor in Zimbabwe's Political and Electoral Affairs’, p. 3.

³⁸ Interview, Enos Nkala, 28 August 2011. The Sikombela Declaration was authored in detention by ZANU's top leadership: Ndabaningi Sithole, Enos Nkala, Edgar Tekere and Robert Mugabe, amongst others.

³⁹Ibid.

⁴⁰Ibid.

⁴¹ W. Mhanda, Dzino: Memories of a Freedom Fighter, (Harare, Weaver Press, 2011); see also D. Moore, ‘The Zimbabwe People's Army: Strategic Innovation or More of the Same’ in N. Bhebe and T. Ranger (eds), Soldiers in Zimbabwe's Liberation War (London, James Currey, 1995).

⁴² Interview, Wilfred Mhanda, 24 November 2011.

⁴³ Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency (ZIANA), ‘Transcript of interview between the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Mozambican journalists’, Maputo, 1P981.

⁴⁴ Interview, Minister A (ZANU(PF)), 26 August 2011. Minister A leads one of the ministries pertinent to the subject of this article and is a long-standing member of government.

⁴⁵ Interview, General B (former ZANLA), 9 February 2011.

⁴⁶ The most accomplished exposé on these ZANU(PF) internal divisions is by A. Selby, ‘Commercial Farmers and the State: Interest Group Politics and Land Reform in Zimbabwe’, (unpublished DPhil Thesis, University of Oxford, 2006).

⁴⁷ Commander Vitalis Zvinavashe, ‘Forces will Maintain their Defence of the Transforming Economy’, The Herald, 12 August 1993.

⁴⁸ Interview, Didymus Mutasa, 14 September 2005; Interviews, Enos Nkala, 28 August 2011 and 4 January 2012; Interview, General A (former ZANLA), 25 March 2012; Interview, Brigadier General B (former ZANLA), 12 January 2012; Interview, Brigadier General A (former ZANLA), 6 January 2012.

⁴⁹ Interview, General B, 9 February 2011; Interview, Colonel A (former ZANLA), 17 August 2011; Interview, General A, 25 March 2012; Interview, Brigadier General A, 6 January 2012.

⁵⁰ Interview, Colonel A, 17 August 2011.

⁵¹ Interview, Wilfred Mhanda, 24 November 2011.

⁵² Interview, Enos Nkala, 28 August 2011.

⁵³ Interview, Dumiso Dabengwa, 4 January 2012.

⁵⁴Ibid.

⁵⁵ Interview, Enos Nkala, 28 August 2011.

⁵⁶ Interview, Lord Peter Carrington, 11 June 2012.

⁵⁷ Major General Sir John Hugh Bevil Acland, ‘Zimbabwe: The Difference Tongogara might have made’, Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, London.

⁵⁸ R. Reid-Daly, Pamwe Chete: The Legend of the Selous Scouts (Blairgowrie GP, Covos-Day Books, 2001).

⁵⁹ L. White, The Assassination of Herbert Chitepo, Texts and Politics in Zimbabwe (Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2003).

⁶⁰ See E. Tekere, A Lifetime of Struggle (Harare, Sapes Books, 2009); F. Chung, Re-Living the Second Chimurenga – Memories from Zimbabwe's Liberation Struggle (Harare, Weaver Press, 2005); Mhanda, Dzino: Memories of a Freedom Fighter.

⁶¹ Interview, Enos Nkala, 28 August 2011; Tekere, A Lifetime of Struggle.

⁶² Interview, MJ, 24 July 2012; Interview, TM, 30 March 2012; Interview, Colonel A, 17 August 2011; Interview, KT, 16 August 2012; Interview, SG, 2 April 2012; Interview, MS, 30 August 2011; Interview, Enos Nkala, 28 August 2011; Interview, Nathan Shamuyarira, 10 August 2011.

⁶³Ibid.

⁶⁴ Interview, Wilfred Mhanda, 24 November 2011; Mhanda, Dzino Memories of a Freedom Fighter.

⁶⁵ Interview, Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles, 5 October 2011.

⁶⁶ Interview, Brigadier Adam Gurdon, 19 June 2012.

⁶⁷ Interview, BMATT Commander B, 28–29 June 2012; Interview, BMATT Commander C, 8 October 2012; Interview, BMATT Commander D, 17 February 2012; Interview, BMATT Commander E, 26 June 2012.

⁶⁸ Tekere, A Lifetime of Struggle.

⁶⁹ Interview, Enos Nkala, 28 August 2011.

⁷⁰Ibid.

⁷¹ Interview, Wilfred Mhanda, 24 November 2011; Interview, Colonel A, 17 August 2011; Interview, Enos Nkala, 28 August 2011.

⁷² N. van de Walle, African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979–1999, (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007).

⁷³ Van de Walle, African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis; Richard Joseph, Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: The Rise and Fall of the Second Republic (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1987).

⁷⁴ Raftopoulos, ‘An Overview of the Politics of the Global Political Agreement’; Chitiyo, ‘The Case for Security Sector Reform in Zimbabwe’.

⁷⁵ Tekere, A Lifetime of Struggle.

⁷⁶ Mazarire, ‘ZANU(PF) and the Government of National Unity’, p. 76. The senior members of the security forces Mazarire refers to specifically are retired Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena and former CIO Director Sidney Nyanhungo.

⁷⁷Ibid., 76.

⁷⁸ ‘Brigadier General Nyikayaramba Responds to Tsvangirai’, The Herald, 23 June 2011.

⁷⁹ See for example ‘Mugabe Rewards Praise-Singing General’, New Zimbabwe, http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-6815-Mugabe%20rewards%20praise-singing%20general/news.aspx, retrieved on 1 June 2013.

⁸⁰ Interview, BMATT Commander A, 23 July 2011; Interview, BMATT Officer A, 28 May 2012; Interview, BMATT Officer B, 14 November 2012.

⁸¹ Interview, BMATT Commander A, 23 July 2011.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Blessing-Miles Tendi

Blessing-Miles TendiDepartment of International Development, University of Oxford, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK. Email: [email protected]