Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>POLITICAL analysts have described the appointment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda as an ex-officio Zanu PF politburo member as a coup-proofing mechanism by President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is consolidating his power.<\/p>\nMnangagwa announced the post at the just-ended Zanu PF annual conference held in Gweru. The move has been widely criticised due to its disregard of the country\u2019s Constitution which prohibits serving members of the security sector from involvement in partisan politics.<\/p>\n
Sibanda has been serving as ZDF Commander since 2017.<\/p>\n
In an interview with NewZimbabwe.com political analyst Eldred Masunugure said the formalisation of his membership in the ruling party politburo is problematic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis marks an inflection point in post-independence civil-military relations in making Commander of the Defence Forces (CDF) an unequivocally partisan head of the national defence forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cCDF will henceforth find himself in a very invidious position where on one hand he is in charge of national defence force but on the other is an active and overt member of a particular party.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs many have observed, this is also possibly in flagrant violation of the national supreme law,\u201d Masunungure said.<\/p>\n
He added that the development was perfectly consistent with the Beijing model of civil-military relations where the military is an integral part of the party.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be that the President sees this model as an effective coup-proofing mechanism that has worked well in China and is expected to work equally effectively in Zimbabwe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Masunungure further highlighted that the appointment could also highlight Mnangagwa\u2019s keenness to resolve the succession issue that led to the 2017 \u201cOperation Restore Legacy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can also be speculated that CDF PV Sibanda is being considered as an answer to the recurrent and unfinished succession question in the ruling party.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would, for instance, retire as CDF on reaching the \u2018mandatory\u2019 retirement age, then he is appointed a full Politburo member, then appointed as one of the VPs and ultimately is elevated to the apex of the party and government.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch speculation cannot be entirely jettisoned. Let us wait and see,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Academic Ibbo Mandaza simply \u201cit is worrying that some people can just disregard the Constitution of the land like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Innocent Kagodora said the nepotism in the appointments made so far after the August elections is a signal to the consolidation of power by the President as factionalism cannot be completely ruled out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe appointment leaves a lot to be desired and it seems to be paving the way for the CDF Chief to deputise VP Chiwenga in the event President Mnangagwa decides not to change the constitution to continue as the leader of the nation\u201d Kagodora hinted.<\/p>\n
The Zimbabwean Constitution currently allows for only two five-year terms.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cIt is complicated that an army general gets closer to a President. Even if the Army General is related to him, sometimes he might be bringing enemies closer to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe move also depends on how loyal are the generals to him to serve in the interest of the appointing authority. Sibanda might be coming in to replace VP Kembo Mohadi who has not been well for some time now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The analyst went further: \u201cEverything points to power consolidation. If everything goes the way he wants, by 2030, he will be there with the people he can trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to him, President Mnangagwa was yet to see if there were going to be challengers to the appointment of CDF Sibanda to a political party.<\/p>\n
He warned: \u201cWe now have a full-blown dictatorship, militarised state and if we are not careful, a 2017 scenario might repeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no boundaries anymore between the state, the military and Zanu PF. The sad part is that the country has a docile population and opposition parties. The situation is precarious. Zimbabwe is now a \u2018defacto\u2019 one-party State. This is shown by the iron rule being used by the government on its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: NewZimbabwe.com<\/b><\/p>\n
For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By New Zimbabwe Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. POLITICAL analysts have described the appointment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda as an ex-officio Zanu PF politburo member as a coup-proofing mechanism by President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is consolidating his power. Mnangagwa announced the post at the just-ended Zanu PF annual conference held in Gweru. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":85951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-85952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-files","9":"tag-africa-press","10":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","11":"tag-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"\n
A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"POLITICAL analysts have described the appointment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda as an ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"POLITICAL analysts have described the appointment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda as an ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-31T19:14:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-01T09:20:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/11\/sm_1698781266.058402.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo\",\"name\":\"A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo - zimbabwe\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/11\/sm_1698781266.058402.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-31T19:14:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-01T09:20:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/2e02b5816e71b1149d79877f669a85e4\"},\"description\":\"POLITICAL analysts have described the appointment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda as an ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/11\/sm_1698781266.058402.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/11\/sm_1698781266.058402.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":666,\"caption\":\"A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/\",\"name\":\"zimbabwe\",\"description\":\"\u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631 \u064a\u0648\u0645\u064a\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0645\u062f\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0627\u0639\u0629\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/2e02b5816e71b1149d79877f669a85e4\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo - zimbabwe","description":"POLITICAL analysts have described the appointment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda as an ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo","og_description":"POLITICAL analysts have described the appointment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda as an ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo","og_site_name":"zimbabwe","article_published_time":"2023-10-31T19:14:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-01T09:20:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":666,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/11\/sm_1698781266.058402.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo","name":"A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo - zimbabwe","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/11\/sm_1698781266.058402.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-31T19:14:52+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-01T09:20:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/2e02b5816e71b1149d79877f669a85e4"},"description":"POLITICAL analysts have described the appointment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander Philip Valerio Sibanda as an ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/11\/sm_1698781266.058402.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/11\/sm_1698781266.058402.jpg","width":1000,"height":666,"caption":"A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/a-coup-proofing-mechanism-analysts-say-as-mnangagwa-appoints-army-chief-to-zanu-pf-politburo#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A coup-proofing mechanism \u2013 analysts say as Mnangagwa appoints army chief to Zanu PF politburo"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/","name":"zimbabwe","description":"\u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631 \u064a\u0648\u0645\u064a\u0629 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0645\u062f\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0627\u0639\u0629","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/2e02b5816e71b1149d79877f669a85e4","name":"cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}