When militarisation endangered both human and state security: The Zimbabwean experience, 2000–2008

ABSTRACT

This article uses the case of Zimbabwe to explore how militarisation endangers both human and state security. While militarisation in Zimbabwe manifested itself in several ways, this study focuses on prioritising military solutions to most of the real or perceived security problems in the country between 2000 and 2008. Using data collected through review of available literature and interviews with officials in the public and private sectors, the article argues that the military-style operations were a threat to order and national security in both the short term and long run because they undermined human security. This is the case despite the fact that the military-style operations, similar to other manifestations of militarisation in Zimbabwe, were mooted and implemented framed in human and state security discourses. The article concludes that the prioritisation of military solutions to every security problem works to safeguard the governing elite but worsens instead of addressing the citizens’ problems with far-reaching implications for human and state security. For human security to be realised, Zimbabwe needs to discontinue militarised governance and capacitate responsible government ministries and departments.

KEYWORDS:

• Zimbabwe
• militarisation
• human security
• state security
• governance

Acknowledgements

This work was informed by my doctoral study currently in progress in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. The thesis seeks to explore and critically examine the role of militarisation in shaping the nexus between human and state security in Zimbabwe. I would like to extend my profound gratitude to my supervisors, Dr Fritz Nganje and Prof Annie Barbara Chikwanha, the African Security Review editors, Dr Lisa Otto and Prof Andreas Velthuizen and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and criticisms.

Note on contributor

Enock Ndawana, a PhD student in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa and a temporary-full time lecturer in the Department of Peace Security and Society at the University of Zimbabwe. His research interests include: African security, human security, gender and conflict, conflict resolution and transformation. More recently, his work has been published in refereed journals that include Africa Review, African Security Review, African Security, Migration and Development, Jadavpur Journal of International Relations, Journal of African Military History, the International Journal of Military History and Historiography, Small Wars and Insurgencies and the South African Journal of International Affairs.

Notes

1 Woodward, Jenkings and Williams, ‘Militarisation, Universities and the University Armed Service Units’, 204.

2 UNDP, Human Development Report 1994, 23.

3 MacFarlane and Khong, Human Security and the UN, 1; Muloongo, ‘Introduction’, 2.

4 Rupiya, ‘Who Wields the Command and Control Authority for the Zimbabwean Security Sector’, 8–16; Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, ‘Patronage and Military Entrenchment in the National Economy’, 3.

5 Alexander, ‘Militarisation and State Institutions’, 811–12.

6 Rupiya, ‘Zimbabwe’, 117.

7 Mhanda, Dzino, 235.

8 Chitiyo and Rupiya, ‘Tracking Zimbabwe's Political History’, 359.

9 Chitiyo, The Case for Security Sector Reform in Zimbabwe, 7; Sachikonye, When a State Turns on Its Citizens, 48.

10 Deibert, ‘Black Code’.

11 Alexander, ‘Militarisation and State Institutions’.

12 Verheul, ‘“Rebels” and “Good Boys”’.

13 Mapuva, ‘Militarisation of Public Institutions’.

14 McGregor, ‘Surveillance and the City’.

15 Makumbe, ‘Zimbabwe's Hijacked Election’; Mangongera, ‘A New Twilight in Zimbabwe?’; Masunungure, ‘A Militarized Election’; Masunungure, ‘Zimbabwe's Militarized’.

16 While the MDC split in 2005, in this article the term MDC is used for consistency's sake to refer to the main faction that remained vibrant with the founding leader, Morgan Tsvangirai until his death in mid-February 2018.

17 Maringira, ‘When the Military Became Militarized’.

18 See, for example, Bracking, ‘Development Denied’; Bratton and Masunungure, ‘Popular Reactions to State Repression’; Hove, ‘The Necessity of Security Sector Reform in Zimbabwe’; Jones, ‘Freeze! Movement, Narrative and the Disciplining of Price in Hyperinflationary Zimbabwe’; Ndawana, ‘Sacrificing Urban Governance at the Altar of Political Expediency’; Potts, ‘Restoring Order?’; Saunders, ‘Geologies of Power’; Spiegel, ‘Legacies of a Nationwide Crackdown on Zimbabwe’; Towriss, ‘Buying Loyalty’; Mangongera, ‘A New Twilight in Zimbabwe?’; Maringira and Masiya, ‘The Security Sector and the Plunder of Zimbabwe's Chiadzwa’.

19 Rupiya, ‘Zimbabwe’.

20 Hove, ‘The Necessity of Security Sector Reform in Zimbabwe’.

21 Hove, Nyamunda and Mukwambo, ‘Violent State operations at Chiadzwa (Zimbabwe) Diamond Fields 2006–2009’.

22 Hove, ‘When a Political Party Turns Against Its Cadres’.

23 Ndawana, ‘The Military and Democratization’, 146–8; Ndawana, ‘The Military and Democratisation in Post-Mugabe Zimbabwe’.

24 Dixon, Warrior Nation, 9.

25 Luckham, ‘The Military, Militarization and Democratization in Africa’, 24; Uyangoda, ‘Introduction’, 1–3.

26 Woodward, Jenkings and Williams, ‘Militarisation, Universities and the University Armed Service Units’, 204.

27 Bowman, ‘The Public Battles Over Militarisation and Democracy in Honduras, 1954–1963’, 541.

28 Maringira, ‘When the Military Became Militarized’, 22.

29 Feaver, ‘Civil-Military Relations’, 218.

30 Lowy, Sader and Gorman, ‘Militarization of the State in Latin America’, 8.

31 Ibid., 9.

32 See, for example, Huntington, The Soldier and the State; Finer, The Man on Horseback.

33 Luckham, ‘Armaments, Underdevelopment and Demilitarisation in Africa’, 179.

34 Mozaffar, ‘The Crisis of the State in Africa’, 15.

35 Ibid., 15–16.

36 Ibid., 14.

37 For several case studies in Africa, see, Bereketeab, National Liberation Movements as Governments in Africa.

38 Coicaud, Legitimacy and Politics, 10.

39 Stillman, ‘The Concept of Legitimacy’, 32.

40 Rothchild, ‘The Effects of State Crisis’, 193–4.

41 Ibid., 193.

42 Ibid., 194.

43 See, for example, Bowman, Militarization, Democracy, and Development; Fitch, The Armed Forces and Democracy in Latin America; Silva, The Soldier and the State in South America; May and Selochan, The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific; Uyangoda, Militarising State, Society and Culture in Asia.

44 Abutudu, ‘Human Security in Africa’, 109; Nathan, ‘Good Governance, Security and Disarmament in Africa’.

45 May, ‘Government and the Military’, 174–5.

46 Keller, ‘The State in Contemporary Africa’, 139.

47 wa Muiu, ‘Colonial and Postcolonial state and Development in Africa’, 1323.

48 May and Selochan, The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific; Uyangoda, Militarising State, Society and Culture in Asia.

49 See, for instance, Nordlinger, Soldiers in Politics, 65; O’Donnell and Schmitter, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule, 62; Kuehn, ‘Midwives or Gravediggers of Democracy?’, 791–3.

50 Stepan, Rethinking Military Politics, Brazil and the Southern Cone, xi; Nassif, ‘Coups and Nascent Democracies’, 159; Decalo, ‘Military Coups and Military Regimes in Africa’, 109.

51 Cervenka, ‘The Effects of Militarization of Africa on Human Rights’, 9–11.

52 Omara-Otunnu, ‘The Struggle for Democracy in Uganda’, 445.

53 Uyangoda, ‘Introduction’, 3.

54 See, for example, Fitch, The Armed Forces and Democracy in Latin America, xv–xvii; Horowitz, ‘Military Origins of Third World Dictatorship and Democracy’, 39–41; May and Selochan, The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific, 7.

55 For example, see, Ahmed H Adam, ‘The Political Calculations of Sudan's Military Regime’, Aljazeera, April 20, 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/political-calculations-sudan-military-regime-190420090754507.html (accessed January 13, 2020); El-Battahani, ‘The Sudan Armed Forces and the Prospects of Change’; Hussein and De Martino, ‘Egypt's Military Post-2011’; Ndawana, ‘The Military and Democratization’.

56 Adam, ‘The Political Calculations of Sudan's Military Regime’; Hussein and De Martino, ‘Egypt's Military Post-2011’; Ndawana, ‘The Military and Democratization’.

57 See, Sections 208 and 211 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013, <http://www.zhrc.org.zw/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Constitution-of-Zimbabwe.pdf>; Defence Act [Chapter 11:02], <https://parlzim.gov.zw/acts-list/download/684_ef93ac5a9f6aa1351c7dbb3536294330>; Police Act [Chapter 11:10], <https://zimlii.org/zw/legislation/num-act/1995/2/Police%20Act%20Chapter%2011%2010.pdf>; Prisons Act [Chapter 7:11], <http://www.icla.up.ac.za/images/un/use-of-force/africa/Zimbabwe/Prisons%20Act.pdf>.

58 International Crisis Group, Blood and Soil, 81; Pottie, ‘Parliamentary Elections in Zimbabwe, 2000’, 62.

59 Chitiyo, The Case for Security Sector Reform in Zimbabwe, 4; Moorcraft, Mugabe's War Machine, 143.

60 Makahamadze, Grand and Tavuyanago, ‘The Role of Traditional Leaders in Fostering Democracy, Justice and Human Rights in Zimbabwe’, 41–4. See, also, Alexander, The Unsettled Land.

61 Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, ‘Patronage and Military Entrenchment in the National Economy’, 3.

62 Makumbe, ‘Local Authorities and Traditional Leadership’, 88–94; Clemence Manyukwe, ‘Traditional Chiefs or Zanu PF Agents?’ The Financial Gazette, July 3, 2003, https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/jul3a_2003.html#link10 (accessed January 13, 2020); Mwando, ‘Zimbabwe: Traditional Leaders Mugabe's Trump Card’.

63 See for example, Mwando, ‘Zimbabwe: Traditional Leaders Mugabe's Trump Card’.

64 Chitiyo and Rupiya, ‘Tracking Zimbabwe's Political History’, 359–60; Sachikonye, When a State Turns on Its Citizens, 35.

65 One scholar making such a blunder is Dendere, ‘Zimbabwe: The Opposition's Urban Voter Problem’.

66 Chitiyo and Rupiya, ‘Tracking Zimbabwe's Political History’, 359.

67 See for example, Laurie, The Land Reform Deception.

68 Moore, ‘Reading Zimbabwe Internationally’, 268.

69 Zimbabwe Parliamentary Debates, volume 27, number 18, 20 September 2000, starting at column 1763.

70 See, for example, Scoones et al., Zimbabwe's Land Reform; Moyo, ‘Three Decades of Agrarian Reform in Zimbabwe’; Mamdani, ‘Lessons of Zimbabwe’; Hanlon, Manjengwa and Smart, Zimbabwe Takes Back Its Land.

71 Hove and Gwiza, ‘The Fast Track Land Reform Programme and Food Insecurity’, 288; Ritesh Anand, ‘El nino and Its Impact on Zim's Food Security’, Zimbabwe Independent, March 18, 2016, https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2016/03/18/el-nino-impact-zims-food-security/

72 Government of Zimbabwe, Response by Government of Zimbabwe, 16.

73 Kamete, ‘In the Service of Tyranny’, 915–16; Makumbe, ‘Zimbabwe: Political Context Study’, 27–8.

74 Government of Zimbabwe, Response by Government of Zimbabwe, 30.

75 International Crisis Group, Post-Election Zimbabwe: What Next?, ii.

76 Tibaijuka, ‘Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to Assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina’, 32.

77 See, for example, Bracking, ‘Development Denied’; Bratton and Masunungure, ‘Popular Reactions to State Repression’; Hove, ‘The Necessity of Security Sector Reform in Zimbabwe’; Ndawana, ‘Sacrificing Urban Governance at the Altar of Political Expediency’.

78 Dorman, ‘“We Have Not Made Anybody Homeless”’.

79 Potts, ‘City Life in Zimbabwe at a Time of Fear and Loathing’, 273.

80 Ndawana, ‘Sacrificing Urban Governance at the Altar of Political Expediency’, 256–7.

81 Bratton and Masunungure, ‘Popular Reactions to State Repression’, 21.

82 Fontein, ‘Anticipating the Tsunami’, 371.

83 Ncube, Bate and Tren, State in Fear, 5.

84 Government of Zimbabwe, Response by Government of Zimbabwe, 15–17.

85 Zimbabwe Institute, ‘The Security-Military Business Complex and the Transition in Zimbabwe’; Mpofu, ‘Operation “Live Well” or “Cry Well”?’; Moorcraft, Mugabe's War Machine, 149.

86 Nqobizitha Khumalo, ‘Harare Blocks Efforts to Shelter Homeless People: Amnesty’, ZimOnline, May 29, 2007, http://www.archive.kubatana.net/html/archive/urbdev/070529zol2.asp?sector=URBDEV&year=2007&range_start=1 (accessed January 13, 2020).

87 Solidarity Peace Trust, ‘“Meltdown”: Murambatsvina- One Year On’, 32–3.

88 ‘Army Officers Arrested for Looting Building Materials’, ZimOnline, December 23, 2006, http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=673 (accessed January 10, 2020).

89 Zimbabwe Institute, ‘The Security-Military Business Complex and the Transition in Zimbabwe’.

90 Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, The Farm Mechanisation Programme, 17.

91 Seven Nematiyere, ‘Operation Maguta Castigated’, The Zimbabwean, October 1, 2011, https://www.thezimbabwean.co/2011/10/Operation-maguta-castigated/ (accessed January 10, 2020).

92 Zimbabwe Institute, ‘The Security-Military Business Complex and the Transition in Zimbabwe’.

93 Solidarity Peace Trust, Operation Taguta/Sisuthi Command Agriculture in Zimbabwe.

94 Augustine Mukaro, ‘Operation Maguta a Flop’, Zimbabwe Independent, January 28, 2005, https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2005/01/28/Operation-maguta-a-flop/ (accessed January 12, 2020); ‘Mugabe's Food Production Project Flops’, ZimOnline, May 24, 2006, https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/may24_2006.html (accessed January 13, 2020).

95 Ploch, Zimbabwe, 20–1.

96 Matondi, Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform, 149.

97 Wisdom Mdzungairi, ‘Agriculture: The Tale of Zimbabwe's Sleeping Giant’, Newsday, September 19, 2013, https://www.newsday.co.zw/2013/09/agriculture-tale-zimbabwes-sleeping-giant/ (accessed January 13, 2020).

98 Matondi, Zimbabwe's Fast Track Land Reform, 149.

99 Jones, ‘Freeze! Movement, Narrative and the Disciplining of Price in Hyperinflationary Zimbabwe’, 339.

100 International Crisis Group, Zimbabwe: A Regional Solution?, 3.

101 Shumba, ‘Zimbabwe's Predatory State’, 76.

102 Jones, ‘Freeze! Movement, Narrative and the Disciplining of Price in Hyperinflationary Zimbabwe’, 339.

103 Andrew Meldrum, ‘Shops Emptied as Panic Grips Zimbabwe’, The Guardian, July 5, 2007, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/05/zimbabwe.topstories3 (accessed May 23, 2020).

104 International Crisis Group, Zimbabwe: A Regional Solution?, 3; Shumba, ‘Zimbabwe's Predatory State’, 76.

105 International Crisis Group, Zimbabwe: A Regional Solution?, 3.

106 See, for example, Hove, ‘Endangered Human Security in Cash Strapped Zimbabwe, 2007–2008’, 53.

107 Jones, ‘Freeze! Movement, Narrative and the Disciplining of Price in Hyperinflationary Zimbabwe’, 341–2.

108 See for instance, ‘Price Controls Devastating Rural Economy’, The New Humanitarian, July 24, 2007, http://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2007/07/24/price-controls-devastating-rural-economy (accessed May 23, 2020).

109 ‘Price controls devastating rural economy’.

110 Spiegel, ‘Legacies of a Nationwide Crackdown on Zimbabwe’, 542.

111 Ibid., 541.

112 Human Rights Watch, Diamonds in the Rough, 4; Saunders, ‘Geologies of Power’, 383; Towriss, ‘Buying Loyalty’, 103–5.

113 Xinhua, ‘Zimbabwe Government Announces Immediate Ban on Illegal Panning’, People's Daily Online, January 18, 2007, http://english.people.com.cn/200701/18/eng20070118_342306.html (accessed May 20, 2020).

114 Human Rights Watch, Diamonds in the Rough.

115 Hove, Nyamunda and Mukwambo, ‘Violent State operations at Chiadzwa (Zimbabwe) Diamond Fields 2006–2009’, 63.

116 Human Rights Watch, Diamonds in the Rough, 1.

117 Human Rights Watch, Diamonds in the Rough, 3; Maguwu, ‘Marange Diamonds and Zimbabwe's Political Transition’, 74; Saunders, ‘Geologies of Power’, 382.

118 Human Rights Watch, Diamonds in the Rough, 1.

119 For details, see for example, Global Witness, ‘Financing a Parallel Government?’; Global Witness, ‘An Inside Job: Zimbabwe’; Moyo, ‘The Curse of Military Commercialism in State Enterprises and Parastatals in Zimbabwe’; Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, Zimbabwe Transition in a Muddy Terrain.

120 Global Witness, ‘An Inside Job: Zimbabwe’.

121 Andrew Kunambura, ‘Chihuri Looted Diamonds Worth Millions of Dollars’, Daily News, April 10, 2018, https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2018/04/10/chihuri-looted-diamonds-worth-millions-of-dollars (accessed January 5, 2020); Hazel Ndebele, ‘How Police Seized Diamond Company’, Zimbabwe Independent, April 13, 2018, https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2018/04/13/police-seized-diamond-company/ (accessed January 5, 2020).

122 Global Witness, ‘An Inside Job: Zimbabwe’, 7; Ndebele, ‘How Police Seized Diamond Company’.

123 ‘$US30 Million Diamond Cash Missing’, The Zimbabwean, July 15, 2010, https://www.thezimbabwean.co/2010/07/us30-million-diamond-cash-missing/ (accessed May 23, 2020).

124 Bratton and Penar, ‘Dropping the Democracy Ball in Southern Africa’, 55.

125 Craig Timberg, ‘Inside Mugabe's Violent Crackdown’, Washington Post, July 5, 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/04/AR2008070402771.html.

126 Among others, in 2008 General Constantine (Constantino) Chiwenga; Prisons boss, retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi; former police boss, Augustine Chihuri; and Brigadier General Sigauke made more or less similar declarations to Zvinavashe's 2002 statement. For details see, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, ‘Zimbabwe National Army Has Always Been Prepared to Shoot for Zanu PF’.

127 Human Rights Watch, “They Beat Me Like a Dog”; Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Report on the Zimbabwe 29 March 2008 Harmonised Elections and 27 June Presidential Run-Off, 53.

128 For details see, Human Rights Watch, ‘Bullets for Each of You’; Solidarity Peace Trust, Punishing Dissent, Silencing Citizens, Solidarity Peace Trust, Desperately Seeking Sanity; Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, Political Violence Report December 2008.

129 Solidarity Peace Trust, The End of a Road, 29.

130 Makumbe, ‘Zimbabwe: Political Context Study’, 30–1.

131 Amnesty International, “Walk the Talk”, 13.

132 Alexander and Tendi, ‘A Tale of Two Elections’, 5.

133 See, for example, Bratton and Masunungure, ‘Zimbabwe's Long Agony’, 48; Masunungure, ‘A Militarized Election’, 81; Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Elections in Zimbabwe, 12; Sachikonye, When a State Turns on Its Citizens, 58.

134 Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Report on the Zimbabwe 29 March 2008 Harmonised Elections and 27 June Presidential Run-Off, 55.

135 Chitiyo, The Case for Security Sector Reform in Zimbabwe, 6.

136 Mavhunga, ‘The Glass Fortress’, 164.

137 Willems, ‘Producing Loyal Citizens and Entertaining Volatile Subjects’, 90.

138 Mavhunga, ‘The Glass Fortress’, 164.