Categories: Stories

Chiwenga retires, Sibanda promoted to Zimbabwe Defence Forces chief

General Constantino Chiwenga has retired as Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and has been replaced by the Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army Lt General Valerio Sibanda who was promoted to a full general.

Major General Edzai Chimonyo was promoted to a Lt. General and is now Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, replacing Sibanda.

A statement by the chief secretary to the President and Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda, said Chimonyo was on secondment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Tanzania.

Sibanda also said air Vice Marshal Elson Moyo has been promoted to Air Marshal and is now Commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe.

He replaces Perrance Shiri who is now Minister of Lands and Agriculture.

Chiwenga’s retirement, pending redeployment, now paves way for him to be appointed vice-president as he is now a civilian.

There has been wide debate that appointing Chiwenga to become one of Mnangagwa’s deputies would be viewed as confirmation that the military intervention of 15 November was indeed a coup.

The military insisted it was not a coup but was an intervention to prevent the country from being taken over by criminals.

The entire operation has now been dubbed Operation Restore Legacy.

Mnangagwa announced on Friday that he would name his deputies in two days, but they have since elapsed.

 

(325 VIEWS)

This post was last modified on December 18, 2017 3:53 pm

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe expects more foreign currency sellers to join the interbank market

The gazetting into law of the payment of quarterly taxes on a 50-50 basis in…

December 4, 2024

Zimbabwe 2025 citizens’ budget

Zimbabwe has today unveiled a ZiG276.4 billion budget for 2025 during which it expects the…

November 28, 2024

To go or not to go- Mnangagwa in a quandary

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has repeatedly stated that he is not going to contest a…

November 25, 2024

ZiG loses steam, falls against US dollar for five consecutive days

The Zimbabwe Gold fell against the United States dollar for five consecutive days from Monday…

November 22, 2024

Indian think tank says Starlink is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

An Indian think tank has described Starlink, a satellite internet service provider which recently entered…

November 18, 2024

ZiG firms against US dollar for 10 days running but people still do not have confidence in the currency

Zimbabwe’s new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), firmed against the United States dollars for 10…

November 16, 2024