General Emmanuel Matatu got bumped up to lead the Zimbabwe Defence Forces after General Philip Valerio Sibanda retired, and President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa made it official at State House in Harare. The move is causing some grumbling because both Matatu and Sibanda came out of Zipra during the liberation war, and some ex-Zanla commanders think the top job should rotate between the two groups. Matatu is from the Midlands like Mnangagwa, and sources say the president picked him for loyalty reasons rather than trying to balance the old factional stuff.
The whole thing ties back to how Zimbabwe's military got stitched together after independence, when Zanla and Zipra fighters merged with the old Rhodesian Army. Mnangagwa apparently wants to lock down control over the armed forces and keep Vice President Constantino Chiwenga from building too much influence. Ethnic and regional politics still drive a lot of decisions in the command structure, even decades after the war ended.
The whole thing ties back to how Zimbabwe's military got stitched together after independence, when Zanla and Zipra fighters merged with the old Rhodesian Army. Mnangagwa apparently wants to lock down control over the armed forces and keep Vice President Constantino Chiwenga from building too much influence. Ethnic and regional politics still drive a lot of decisions in the command structure, even decades after the war ended.
