The Zimbabwe National Army has said the presence of military tanks on the streets of Harare will continue until Thursday (today).
Deputy Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Tichafa Mungofa told VOA’s Studio 7 that the military was/is conducting routine drills with the tanks and people should not be worried.
“It’s a normal exercise that the Army usually undertakes, and this is one of them. This is an ongoing exercise, and I think it will end tomorrow (Thursday),” he said.It’s a normal exercise that the Army usually undertakes, and this is one of them. This is an ongoing exercise, and I think it will end tomorrow (Thursday),” he said.
More than 20 military tanks were spotted in Harare’s Borrowdale area, fueling fears of a possible coup, particularly amid deepening divisions within the ruling party.
The sudden and unusual movement of military hardware mirrors events leading up to the 2017 coup when soldiers first appeared in the streets before tanks were deployed to strategic locations, including Parliament and police stations, to disarm the police force, which had becomeMugabe’s de facto paramilitary wing.
That coup, orchestrated by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) under then-General Constantino Chiwenga, was backed by key military figures such as the late Air Marshal Perrence Shiri and retired General Sibusiso Moyo.
The military’s intervention followed Mugabe’s decision to fire Mnangagwa as Vice President, a move seen as clearing the way for his wife, Grace Mugabe, to seize power.
Mugabe’s ouster paved the way for Mnangagwa to assume the presidency, but growing unease within the ruling party has reignited fears of another military takeover.Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, posting under his pseudonym dhonzamusoro007 on social media, insisted that the military tank movement was part of routine drills.
Despite official dismissals, speculation persists that Vice President Chiwenga may have deployed the tanks to intimidate Mnangagwa amid their intensifying power struggle.
Chiwenga, who was in Mutare attending the funeral of Sekuru Leonard “Mwatambandini” Kashiri—the father-in-law of Zanu PF National Chairperson and Minister of Defence, Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri—has not publicly commented on the developments.
