A top Zimbabwe army general has called on the nation’s soldiers to vote for Robert Mugabe in a presidential run-off or quit the military, the official media reported today.
Army Chief of Staff Major General Martin Chedondo told troops at a shooting competition to leave the military if they did not support Mr Mugabe, the state Heraldnewspaper reported.
“Soldiers are not apolitical. Only mercenaries are apolitical. We have signed up and agreed to fight and protect the ruling party’s principles of defending the revolution. If you have other thoughts, then you should remove that uniform,” he was quoted as saying.
He told soldiers outside Harare on Friday that Mr Mugabe was head of the nation’s defence forces, and that "we should therefore stand behind our commander in chief".
In the past, the country’s generals, mostly veterans of the bush war that led to independence from Britain in 1980, have vowed never to salute Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, if he became president.
In a report released last week, the respected International Crisis Group said that senior military commanders opposed to Mr Tsvangirai were instrumental in preventing a democratic transition after the March 29th election.
The opposition party won a majority in parliament, and Mr Tsvangirai won the presidential race, though not by an absolute majority.
The crisis group warned that there was a “growing risk of a coup” either before the June 27th presidential run-off as a pre-emptive move to deny Mr Tsvangirai victory, or after a Tsvangirai win.
Mr Tsvangirai’s party says at least 50 of its supporters have been killed and tens of thousands displaced from their homes in violence since the first round of voting on March 29th.
PA