The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) has reportedly sacked three senior military commanders at the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) over a multi-million-dollar hard currency housing corruption scandal.
Citing high-level sources, The NewsHawks reported that the ZNA commander Lieutenant-General Anselem Sanyatwe recently dismissed three commanders namely ZNA chief-of-staff (quartermaster) Major-General Hlanganani Dube, Major-General Paul Chima (ZDF inspector-general) and Major-General John Mupande, the director-general of policy, public relations and international affairs at the ministry of Defence. Said a source:
The three major generals, Dube, Chima and Mupande, were all but dismissed; they were put in the pool department after an intervention by ZDF commander General Phillip Valerio to manage the housing scandal and their exit properly. So all of them are going, but they will leave at the end of March.
Sanyatwe acted swiftly and ruthlessly against them after they were caught buying properties and inflating the purchase prices, renovations and allocating themselves houses well above their pay grade.
The corruption involves amounts ranging between US$400 000 to US$4 million. They bought houses for themselves and colleagues at inflated prices for private gain.
This involves several transactions, for instance, one for US$1.8 million, another for US$2 million and the other for US$4 million. However, there were many other transactions.
Another source was quoted as saying the houses in question, which are said to be in Greystone Park suburb in Harare, were repossessed and turned into guest houses. Said the source:
They have been booted out and sent to the pool. However, very soon they will go because due process is currently underway.
The houses that were acquired corruptly have been repossessed immediately and turned into guest houses. The houses in question are in Greystone Park suburb in Harare.
The new ZNA commander is fighting corruption within the army, but his action is also motivated by his own grievances or grudges.
When he was removed from the army in 2019 and posted to Tanzania as ambassador, the affected generals, especially Dube, refused to buy him a house.
He was told he was out of the system and did not deserve a house. So he is fighting back, now that he is their boss.
But then Sanyatwe is not sparing anyone involved in corrupt activities, which shows he is genuine.
Even Chima, who was his best friend and his best man at his wedding in August 2022, is not being spared. He is taking army protocols back on line.
Manje manje (soon) Chima will go as well. There is so much corruption in the army to the extent that suppliers are sometimes paid for goods that were not delivered.
In the case of houses, the limits were US$400 000 [just like ministers, deputy ministers, MPs and judges have their own limits on monies they get from government — which means public funds], but others were given over US$4 million for a house. This scandal involved millions of United States dollars.
The NewsHawks quoted another source as saying there is rampant corruption within the military. Said the source:
There is a lot of corruption in the army. The only reason the military appears less corrupt to other state institutions is that it is less scrutinised and most of its operations and procurements are clandestine.
For instance, remember that Dube was previously accused of having a hand in the theft of 30 tonnes of beef meant for the military’s Recruitment Training Depot in Mbalabala, Matabeleland South.
He allegedly diverted the meat to butcheries where it was sold before the money disappeared into private pockets.
Allegations were that a driver was sent to deliver 30 tonnes of meat to the training school in Mbalabala, but brought a delivery note and invoice without offloading the meat.
These things show that there is corruption within the military. Now it’s the housing scandal, which is far more serious than previously reported cases of corruption.
More: Pindula News