Rare honours for army amid coup fears in Zimbabwe

By Tatenda Dewa | Harare Bureau |

Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) commemorations on Tuesday will be marked by the presentation of special honours not bestowed on the military since independence in 1980.

Constantine Chiwenga, the ZDF commander, revealed in a statement on Sunday that military formations, regiments and units from both the ground and air forces will be presented with their base colours and flags, an arrangement that has not featured since Zimbabwe attained independence from colonial rule.

The ceremonial addition to the annual ZDF celebrations comes as the army is increasingly seen to back a plot to force President Robert Mugabe out of power before the 2018 general elections.

Base colours and flags mark the unique identities of the ground army and airforce units and regiments and are a worldwide military tradition that also celebrates the pride and achievements of the respective formations.

While modern armies no longer carry base colours and flags to the battle front, they have retained their ceremonial glitz, pomp and fanfare and are used to infuse a sense of dignity, loyalty, unity and belonging among soldiers.

“This year’s main parade is very unique in that there will be the presentation of colours to formations, regiments and units of the Zimbabwe National Army by his Excellency, the President, Head of State and Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe,” said Chiwenga.

“Concurrently the Air Force of Zimbabwe will fly over gracing new colours and after the presentation, the President will then deliver his keynote address to the nation.” He said similar parades would be held in all the country’s nine other administrative provinces where Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs will officiate on behalf of the President,” he added.

Chiwenga talked tough at the weekend, rapping Higher and Tertiary Education minister, Jonathan Moyo, for allegedly infiltrating the ruling Zanu PF and vowing that the army would not stand by as strife tore the party and country.

The statement has been interpreted as an early hint of a possible coup d’état.

Moyo, whose office was mysteriously broken into on Saturday, sides with a Zanu PF faction, Generation 40 (G40) that is fighting a fierce battle with another camp, Team Lacoste, headed by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Recently, the Provincial Affairs minister for Masvingo, Shuvai Mahofa, who, like Chiwenga, is linked to Team Lacoste, called on the army chief to take over the running of national affairs, accusing politicians of leadership failure.

The army is rumoured to be backing rebel war veterans who are calling on Mugabe to go.

Court records show that a senior police witness indicated during the on-going trial of Douglas Mahiya, the veterans’ secretary general who stands accused of taking part in authoring a communique that described Mugabe as a “genocidal dictator” that top army personnel connived with the ex-combatants in compiling the “traitorous” document.

The war veterans want Mugabe to be replaced by Mnangagwa.

Morale is reported to have hit sea bottom in the military due to repeated failure by Mugabe’s government to pay soldiers on time.