Leonard T. Koonce 
Sapien Sapien
The stigma that characterized the reprimand of the remarks made by Chief Murinye by the Vice President of Zimbabwe, Dr Constantino Chiwenga, illustrates the reality around the power matrix in Zimbabwe.
The Vice President was blunt in his rebuke, reading the riot act to the assembled leaders and indicating who indeed is calling the shorts regarding the puzzle of power in Zimbabwe.
This monologue will in no way attempt to delve deep into the politics behind the political dynamics, particularly around the politics of Zanu PF, but will essentially attempt to locate the hub of power in Zimbabwe’s complex political web.
There is no doubt in Zimbabwe that the military institution plays a decisive role in the politics of the country.
Many “smart” politicians have attempted to suggest and imply what they call “security sector reform” or “military reform” but history is fraught with innuendo of cases where the Zimbabwe’s army decided the trajectory of the policy, to the point of reforming the behavior of political actors.
It is reckless for anyone to resist noting this overt truth, a truth which is so “strong to see” and “great to hear”, if ever English words can be played that way, just to prove how this institution plays a central role in the country’s politics.
The Zvinavashe doctrine, pronounced at the beginning of 2000 (which begins with the words: “We want it to be very clear that the army will not salute anyone without titles of liberation”) shows a decisive inclination in values and proves the unbridled fact that the military in Zimbabwe, at least so far, is and remains the most important institution in the art of government of the country.
A deliberate attempt at revisionism was made and collapsed dramatically in November 2017, as noted by the events that proved the remarks of Zimbabwe’s founding Prime Minister Robert Gabriel Mugabe that “politics lead the pistol ”were only an epic mirage. proportions.
Certainly, the “human rights and democracy” brigade will tend to view my characterizations here as “undemocratic” and the usual yada, but what is of pragmatic importance is the fact that I am watching the history and how it was defined by the military in this country.
This country can even date back to the days of Rozvi State or even post-Mfecane events in Zulu State before Mzilikazi’s migration to present-day Zimbabwe.
The Pioneer Column was to be designed to compel the sons and daughters of the soil to surrender to the whims and whims of the British Colonial Company, the British South Africa Company. The Anglo-Ndebele Wars and the early Chimurenga Wars were military escapades that sought to define who held the political gravity to control the land between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers.
Take for example the Rhodesian configuration. Ian Smith depended on supremacist elements within the Rhodesian security system, primarily the military, who had promised him that a war of attrition against Maoist-trained liberation war fighters would be enough to ensure the longevity of the Rhodesian utopian idea, and as such Smith’s fallacious idea, that “there will never be a black majority in Rhodesia, not in a thousand years!”
Events on the ground have proven that indeed Smith and his extremist ceremonial presidents, including Clifford Dupont before his demise, believe in the supremacy of Rhodesian military might. This belief in the supremacy of the military saw subsequent generations of Zimbabwean leaders trust this hugely important national institution.
It’s the same with what we have in the United States, although Americans pretend to be smart homo sapien sapiens by misinforming and misleading that it’s something they call reigning democracy. instead of the Pentagon’s aspirations yet he doesn’t need expertise in decoding complex algorithms to observe that the US military infrastructure decides what the guys in the White House announce as foreign policy every four-year cycle.
Modern-day politics are punctuated with chicanery, subterfuge, and crass deception. Machiavellian intrigues reign supreme while the art of “winning without fighting” as recommended by Sun Tzu remains relevant to this day.
The institution of chiefs in Zimbabwe, itself already punctuated by a lack of cohesion as evidenced by the cacophony of voices emanating from different angles after Chief Murinye’s statements and Vice President Chiwenga’s subsequent rebuttal, is contingent on whims and whims of politicians.
It is a painful reality that many observers have tried to circumvent. The fact that Chief Fortune Charumbira has moved away from the comments made by Chief Murinye proves that certain behind-the-scenes shenanigans or, essentially, downright rogue postures are commonplace within this institution.
One thing should be clear to everyone; Hate them or love them, these politicians of ours are ahead of our time and he, whose ideals and values resonate with the aspirations of the military, is sure to be at the head of the leadership of this country. Geez, observers are now waiting to notice and assess how Chief Murinye is going to wean himself from this potential zugzwang scenario, but one thing is clear, it’s not business as usual anymore.
This minor digression does not remove the knot of this submission which is essentially to the effect that the army remains the most decisive factor in Zimbabwean politics and the remarks of Chief Murinye to have a replication of the events of November 17, 2017. can certainly and do send chills to more than one political analyst.
Sapien is an expert in security and commerce.
