Zimbabwe Defence Forces
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| Zimbabwe Defence Forces | |
|---|---|
 Flag of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces | |
| Current form | 18 May 1980 |
| Service branches |  Zimbabwe National Army Air Force of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Republic Police |
| Headquarters | Harare |
| Leadership | |
| President | Emmerson Mnangagwa |
| Minister of Defence | Sydney Sekeramayi |
| Chief of Defense | Gen. Constantino Chiwenga |
| Personnel | |
| Conscription | 18–24 years of age |
| Available for military service | 5,500,000, age 15–49 (2017) |
| Fit for military service | 3,175,000, age 15–49 (2017) |
| Reaching military age annually | 310,000 (2017) |
| Active personnel | 30,000; plus 21,800 paramilitary (ranked 83rd) |
| Expenditures | |
| Budget | US$95 million (2017) |
| Percent of GDP | 0.66% (2017) |
| Industry | |
| Foreign suppliers |  Brazil[1]  Bulgaria[2]  China[1]  Czech Republic[2]  France[2]  Italy[2]  Russia[2]  Botswana[2]  United Kingdom[1] |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military history of Zimbabwe |
| Ranks | Rank insignia |
The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) are composed of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ). As a landlocked country, Zimbabwe has no navy. The most senior commander of the ZDF is General Constantino Chiwenga.
Ministry of Defence
In July 1994 the combined Zimbabwe Defence Forces Headquarters was created.
Manpower
The Zimbabwe army had an estimated strength of 29,000 in 2007. The ZNA had an estimated 25,000 personnel. The air force had about 4,000 men assigned.[3]
Paramilitary
Zimbabwe maintains a strong paramilitary force. In 2007 the IISS estimated that the Zimbabwe Republic Police had 19,500 personnel, including 20,000 officers, and that there was an additional 2,300 personnel in the Police Support Unit.[3] Separately Paramilitary Police have been reported.
History
At the time of independence, the then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe declared that integrating Zimbabwe's three armed forces would be one of Zimbabwe's top priorities. The existing Rhodesian Army was combined with the two guerrilla armies; the 20,000-strong Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) forces of Zimbabwe African National Union-PF and the 15,000-strong Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) forces of PF-Zimbabwe African People's Union. A British Military Assistance and Training Team played a pivotal role in assisting the creation of the new army, and was still in place in 2000.[4] The Rhodesian Air Force was eventually reorganised as the Air Force of Zimbabwe.
Mozambique Civil War
| This section may contain information not important or relevant to the article's subject. (November 2017) |
The Mozambique civil war occurred between the FRELIMO Government and RENAMO. The rebel group was funded by Rhodesian intelligence in the 70s and later the apartheid South African government to destabilize Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe Defence Forces got involved to protect Zimbabwe's eastern city of Mutare and the strategic railway line to Mozambique's port city of Beira which were being attacked by RENAMO. This was also seen as assistance to the FRELIMO government which had assisted Zimbabwe rebel fighters based in Mozambique during Rhodesian Bush War. Some RENAMO elements had crossed from Mozambique into Zimbabwe several times, robbing shops along the border and had burned down a timber factory. After several meetings with Mozambican officials it was agreed that the ZDF could conduct "hot pursuits" into Mozambique of any RENAMO elements that may have raided Zimbabwe. On this pretext the ZDF begun planning follow-up operations which would take them deep into Mozambique culminating in occupation of former RENAMO bases at Gorongosa. The decision to send Zimbabwean troops to fight RENAMO was partly influenced by Zimbabwe's close relationship with the Mozambican government which dates back to FRELIMO's assistance during ZANU in its fight against Rhodesia. There was also the underlying fact that FRELIMO and ZANU shared a common Marxist ideology of scientific socialism. The South Africa-backed RENAMO professed to be an anti-communist movement, as did Jonas Savimbi's UNITA movement, which was fighting against the Marxist MPLA government of Angola. There was thus an ideological alliance of the Maputo - Harare - Luanda axis, with support for these governments from the Soviet Union.
Operation Lemon
The first of the ZDF follow-up operations was launched from Katiyo and Aberdeen in northern Manicaland, code-named Operation "Lemon". The five-day operation lasted from the 5th to 9 December 1984. It comprised elements of 3 Brigade, the Parachute Group, Special Air Service (SAS), and was supported by the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ). Bad weather conditions and the difficult mountainous terrain reduced the use of aircraft, and all the trooping had to be done by helicopters. The movement of troops on the ground was also difficult. Four contacts were made and two RENAMO bases were destroyed. While successful in capturing the bases themselves, most RENAMO elements in the bases managed to escape and only eight were captured.The ZDF considered this operation as a major failure and the code word Lemon was corrupted to mean any failure in all subsequent operations. It was further established that there were no other permanent bases in the area, only some advance posts and temporary bases used by RENAMO as launching pads for food raids into Zimbabwe. The raid was important in establishing the location of the main RENAMO base at Messinse, Chito, Nyazonia, Buetoni, Gorongosa Central Base and Casa Banana.
Casa Banana Raid
Intelligence sources had indicated that Cassa Banana, RENAMO's national headquarters had a strength of 400 elements. However, the organisation maintained a string of other smaller bases along the Gorongosa Mountains, which were considered as part of the main base. This raised the total estimated strength in the area to 1 000 elements. During the night of 27 August 1985, three Zimbabwe infantry battalions were established in their Form Up Points (FUP) with the help of the SAS and Commando elements. At Chimoio a Fireforce was being given final briefing, and five AFZ planes were given orders for a first light take-off for Gorongosa on the morning of 28 August. The Fireforce was divided into three sections each with one helicopter gunship, two transport helicopters and two transport aircraft with paratroopers. Each Fireforce section was detailed to attack specific suspected RENAMO positions around the Gorongossa Mountains. It was during this three pronged attack that one helicopter observed activity on the ground at the location that had been given at the briefing as Cassa Banana. Fighter jets from Thornhill, which were already in the air, began the raid on Cassa Banana. It took the entire day to conclude the raid. No official records of casualties for either contingent were given.
Operation Restore Legacy
| This section may contain information not important or relevant to the article's subject. (November 2017) |
Operation Restore Legacy is an operation which was carried by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.The operation started on the 15th of November .The Operation targeted criminals around Robert Mugabe .These criminals included most of Robert Mugabe's allies including his wife Grace Mugabe who was accused of leading a faction called G40 .The faction was accused of causing political ,economic and social uncertainty in Zimbabwe. The operation was a direct result of the ouster of then Vice President E.D Mnangagwa. On Monday 13 November 2017 Chiwenga summoned reporters to the military’s main barracks near Harare to issue a statement.“We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that, when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in,” he said, reading from a prepared text. The following morning the Zanu Pf party replied to the statement by the general through its influential youth league boss Kudzanai Chipanga, accusing the general of being meddling in party politics inorder to protect his own criminal activity and also accused him of treason and showing his own views not of the whole ZDF command. That same day at around 2 pm six armored personnel carriers heading towards the headquarters of Mugabe’s Presidential Guard on the outskirts of Harare. It was unclear whose command they were under.Social Media went into overdrive with sightings of armoured tanks moving towards Harare.At around 6 p.m. on Nov. 14, Mugabe’s motorcade headed to his private “Blue Roof” residence, a heavily fortified compound in the capital’s leafy northern suburb of Borrowdale.Increasingly concerned, Grace put in a call shortly after 7 p.m. to a cabinet minister asking to get WhatsApp and Twitter shut down, according to one source familiar with a recording of the conversation.The minister replied that such a move was the responsibility of state security minister Kembo Mohadi.Two hours later, two armored vehicles rolled into the Pockets Hill headquarters of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), according to ZBC sources.[5]
Dozens of soldiers sealed off the site and stormed into the studios where they accosted staff, snatching their phones and halting programs. State-owned ZBC, widely seen as a mouthpiece for Mugabe, switched to broadcasting pop music videos.Mugabe’s inner circle, nearly all of them G40 loyalists, had no idea what was under way, according to four sources familiar with their conversations.Information Minister Simon Khaya Moyo called Defense Minister Sydney Sekeramayi to ask if he had any information about a possible coup. Sekeramayi said no, but tried to check with military chief Chiwenga.Chiwenga told Sekeramayi he would get back to him. According to the sources, Chiwenga never did.As ministers in the G40 faction tried frantically to work out what was going on, Chiwenga’s men closed in on Mugabe’s compound.Albert Ngulube, a CIO director and head of Mugabe’s security detail, was driving home around 9.30 p.m. after visiting Mugabe. He met an armored car on Borrowdale Brooke, a side road leading to Mugabe’s house. When Ngulube confronted the soldiers and threatened to shoot them, they beat him up and detained him, the source said. Ngulube was later released ( Reauters 2017). After apparently seizing the state broadcaster, ZBC, two uniformed officers said in a short predawn announcement that “the situation in our country has moved to another level.” While denying that the military had seized power, they said that Mr. Mugabe and his family “are safe and sound, and their security is guaranteed.” “We are only targeting criminals around him who are committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country in order to bring them to justice,” said the main speaker, who was identified as Maj. Gen. S. B. Moyo, the army’s chief of staff.For another week, Mugabe clung on to the presidency as Chiwenga and his forces tried to engineer a peaceful, and quasi-legal, exit for the long-serving leader.But as parliament began impeachment proceedings on Nov. 21, Mugabe finally gave up. After 37 years in control, during which much of his country fell into poverty, his letter of resignation said he was stepping down out of “concern for the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe.” Making way for the new President E.D Mnangagwa, the ousted former vice president.
Equipment
Notes
- ^ a b c "Scramble for the Congo - Anatomy of an Ugly War" (PDF). ICG Africa. 2000-12-20. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
- ^ a b c d e f [1]
- ^ a b The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) (2007). The Military Balance 2007. Abingdon: Routledge Journals. ISBN 978-1-85743-437-8. Page 299.
- ^ "UK urged to keep force in Zimbabwe". The Independent. London. 16 April 2000.
- ^ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-politics-mugabe-specialrepor/special-report-treacherous-shenanigans-the-inside-story-of-mugabes-downfall-idUSKBN1DQ0AG
References
- Central Intelligence Agency [2]
- Reuters [ttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-politics-mugabe-specialrepor/special-report-treacherous-shenanigans-the-inside-story-of-mugabes-downfall-idUSKBN1DQ0AG]
- Central Intelligence Organisation
- https://www.enca.com/africa/full-statement-by-zim-army-on-state-broadcaster
- Operation Restore Legacy [3]
Further reading
- Abiodun Alao, 'The Metamorphosis of the Unorthodox: The Integration and Development of the Zimbabwe National Army' (chapter in book compiled by Terence Ranger, 'Soldiers in Zimbabwe's Liberation War'), 1995
- Norma J. Kriger, ‘Guerrilla Veterans in Post-war Zimbabwe: Symbolic and Violent Politics,’ 1980-1987, Cambridge UP, 2003