Army General’s threats signal fear of army revolt
By Violet Gonda
13 December 2005

The Defence spokesman in the opposition, Giles Mutsekwa, has said things are falling apart in Zimbabwe’s army. He was responding to threats made by senior Army General Martin Chedondo, who told graduates at a pass out parade in Gweru that it was “treasonous” for any true Zimbabwean soldier to support Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mutsekwa alleges senior army officials and their Commander in Chief Robert Mugabe may have picked up on the amount of work the MDC is doing in the defence forces. He said the regime is trying to stave off revolt, especially as “the national cake cannot support the defence forces, resulting in members being poorly paid, poorly equipped and morale at its lowest ebb.”

Major General Martin Chedondo denounced the MDC, describing the party as an agent of Western imperialism. He said the military would not accept for or salute the country's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. The Major warned privates that it is treasonous to support Tsvangirai and his party. Former Zimbabwe Defences Forces commander Vitalis Zvinavashe uttered a similar statement just before the country’s 2002 presidential elections.

The MDC Defence Spokesman said the Major is aware that the army recruits are mostly people who have no experience of the past and not involved in the liberation struggle. They are educated and can make informed decisions. Mutsekwa claims the MDC has support from the majority of the army privates. He said the opposition has made many inroads into the defence forces, the police and the CIO, and that apart from the ranks of the major general and above, the remainder of the ranks in the security forces are pro-MDC.

The opposition president recently called for a united front to remove the Mugabe regime, and Mutsekwa believes that the stance taken by the major general is to threaten the soldiers before they go out in the field.

Mutsekwa also believes Major Chedondo was probably trying to place himself close to Robert Mugabe so he can be promoted adding, “Chiwenga (army commander) and the other lot should be due for retirement and if Mugabe was doing his homework he would now be thinking of a replacement.”