Disgruntled soldiers heckle army commander
By Tichaona Sibanda 5 September 2008
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The head of the Zimbabwe National Army, Lieutenant General Phillip
Sibanda was on Wednesday re****tedly heckled by soldiers from the
Presidential Guard over the regime's failure to pay them top-up
salaries.
The army commander re****tedly went around army barracks in a bid to
quell soldiers' expectations of a second salary, citing lack of funds
by government. The independent radio station, the Voice of the People
re****ted that Sibanda visited One Presidential Guard in Harare on
Wednesday to brief them on how government was struggling to pay their
salaries.
'Sibanda's address was in response to rumours that soldiers were
supposed to be given another salary this week so that they could settle
their children's school fees. The army commander said there was no
money to give soldiers this week, and that the soldiers would only get
paid on the 15th,' according to RadioVOP.
The station quotes a soldier saying junior and senior soldiers, some of
them war veterans could not hide their anger during the address and
went as far as to say 'Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader was better.'
It's an open secret that the Commander-In-Chief of the defence forces,
Robert Mugabe is unpopular among the rank and file of the country's
security forces. In February he was forced to award huge pay rises to
the army ahead of the harmonised elections in a bid to calm the
restless military members.
Isaac Dziya a retired assistant police commissioner said the regime,
which has a regular army of 35 000, is facing massive food shortages in
military barracks.
"Soldiers are human beings just like you and me. They need to eat. They
need money for school fees and they also need to lead ordinary lives
like everyone else. But the problem is, only the senior officers are
benefiting from the patronage system that has been used to great effect
by Mugabe," Dziya said. He said Mugabe is known to pacify soldiers
whenever they become agitated by poor working conditions and low
salaries. The army is a pillar of strength in Mugabe's embattled
regime. Last month, the commanders who led his violent re-election
campaign took delivery of all-terrain luxury vehicles, at a time when
millions of Zimbabweans face starvation.
Top security chiefs have pledged their undying loyalty to Mugabe, and
have prevented Tsvangirai from taking power after being cheated out of
victory over ZANU PF on at least two occasions. There is a public
perception that Zimbabwe is now effectively under the control of the
army, which masterminded his political survival after his shock defeat
in March this year. Mugabe lost the ballot to MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai during the first round of elections on March 29 this year.
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