PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has distributed 102 cars to senior army commanders in what has been described as a bid to pacify the military amid serious clashes in Zanu PF over his succession and corruption. The vehicles were handed out in Harare yesterday, just two weeks after a heated confrontation with Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, a former Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander, over corruption allegations against a coterie of businesspersons linked to Zanu PF. After the confrontation, Mnangagwa became apprehensive and fearing he could be toppled by his deputy, started mobilising funds to buy the vehicles for the army personnel, sources have disclosed.
The 83-year-old ruler presided over the distribution of the vehicles to lieutenant colonels and colonels, a move which observers said was an attempt to mollify the military amid growing discontent over deteriorating conditions of service and the alleged theft of State funds by cartels. According to the Information ministry, the vehicles will “bridge a significant gap in the conditions of service for senior army officers, ensuring they receive their entitlements, including vehicles, ultimately enhancing their welfare and operational effectiveness within the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.” Zanu PF insiders, however, said Mnangagwa, unsettled by Chiwenga’s dossier, was pampering the military to try to insulate his regime. The military is allegedly unhappy with systematic looting of State funds by some businesspersons who have been dishing out cash and cars in Mnangagwa’s name.
Sources revealed that earlier this year, the military presented Mnangagwa with a document outlining the dire conditions in army barracks and demands for overdue service vehicles. Approximately 700 Zimbabwe Defence Forces officers in the ranks of lieutenant colonel and colonel were owed vehicles as part of their conditions of service, according to the source. The government promised to buy about 300 vehicles just a week after they presented their document, around June, but the promise was only fulfilled yesterday amid growing tensions in the country.
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“Of these, around 300 have already retired since 2018 without ever receiving their dues from the Mnangagwa government,” the source said. “The handover of these 102 vehicles, a fraction of the more than 700 owed, is, therefore, not as a fulfilment of an obligation, but a calculated political stunt.
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