Military corruption in war: stealing and connivance among Zimbabwean foot soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (1998–2002)

ABSTRACT

This article examines the ways in which Zimbabwean foot soldiers engaged in military corrupt activities, stealing army rations from the trenches to resell in neighbouring civilian communities and Congolese soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The practice became widespread among and between senior and junior officers. However, this practice did not end with the war; rather it was carried over from the DRC war to the Zimbabwean army barracks. The article contends that the practice of stealing army rations was a deeply unprofessional practice. The article draws from life history stories of Zimbabwean former soldiers who deserted the army and are now living in South Africa.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article examine les moyens par lesquels les fantassins Zimbabwéens se livrèrent à des pratiques militaires corrompues : volant les rations des armées dans les tranchées pour les revendre aux communautés civiles voisines et aux soldats Congolais en République démocratique du Congo (RDC). L’usage devint courant parmi et entre les officiers supérieurs et subalternes. Néanmoins, la pratique ne s’arrêta pas avec la fin de la guerre, mais fut plutôt transposée de la guerre en RDC aux casernes de l’armée Zimbabwéenne. L’article soutient que le vol de rations militaires était une pratique qui manquait profondément de professionnalisme. Il s’appuie sur les histoires personnelles d’anciens soldats Zimbabwéens qui ont déserté et qui vivent maintenant en Afrique du Sud.

KEYWORDS:

• Military corruption
• war
• soldiers
• Zimbabwe National Army
• Democratic Republic of Congo

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Corruption militaire
• guerre
• soldats
• Zimbabwe National Army
• République démocratique du Congo

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge the former soldiers who have shared their stories on which this article is based. I also thank all the anonymous reviewers: their insightful comments have helped to improve the article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Note on contributor

Godfrey Maringira is a Volkswagen Stiftung Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the University of the Western Cape in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. His main area of research is on the military and politics in Africa, army desertions in Africa and soldiers in post-army life.

Notes

1. The research underlying this article was carried out before the Zimbabwe National Army political military intervention code-named ‘Operation Restore Legacy’, which resulted in President Robert Mugabe’s resignation from office in November 2017. However, of importance to note is that the government neglect of the army has contributed to the current situation, with the army taking control of the political situation in this month.

Additional information

Funding

I wish to thank the Volkswagen Foundation fellowship, for providing funding for my postdoctoral fellowship on which this paper is based; and also the Social Science Research Council for support during the period 2012–2014.