HARARE – Facing growing unease within his own Zanu PF party, President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday handed over 102 vehicles to senior army commanders in what observers say is a calculated bid to shore up loyalty and insulate his regime against the threat of a coup.
The information ministry said the vehicles would “bridge a significant gap in the conditions of service for senior army officers, ensuring they receive their entitled benefits, including vehicles, ultimately enhancing their welfare and operational effectiveness within the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.”
Pictures released by the ministry showed Mnangagwa smiling as he presented the keys to a line of gleaming off-road trucks at the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Msasa Logistics Garrison Depot in Harare.
Mnangagwa said: “The vehicles I’m commissioning today are under the first phase of a comprehensive programme that will see the government procuring vehicles, inclusive of buses, towards enhancing mobility across the rank and file of the ZDF.
Presidency spokesman George Charamba said “all told, the ZDF will get over 700 vehicles, the first ever time that ZDF has received such a consignment within a short-time bracket.”
But critics immediately questioned the timing of the gesture, noting that Mnangagwa is grappling with widening cracks in Zanu PF following his sidelining of party secretary general Obert Mpofu and growing tension with his deputy, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.
“This is classic coup-proofing,” a Harare political analyst told ZimLive.
“Mnangagwa knows his position is shaky, and in Zimbabwe the army remains the ultimate arbiter of political power. Giving generals expensive perks is a way of buying their loyalty at a time when the succession battle is heating up.”
The army’s role in Zimbabwean politics remains deeply sensitive. It was the military that intervened in 2017 to depose longtime ruler Robert Mugabe, paving the way for Mnangagwa to take power with Chiwenga’s backing.
Now, with Chiwenga positioning himself as a reformist championing an anti-corruption campaign against business elites aligned to Mnangagwa, the president is increasingly relying on patronage to consolidate his authority.
Millionaire Zanu PF oligarchs Kudakwashe Tagwirei and Wicknell Chivayo have lavished over 300 vehicles on members of the party’s central committee and provincial chairmen in recent weeks.
Neither the Ministry of Defence nor the Zimbabwe Defence Forces provided details of the cost of the vehicles. Chivayo is known to have a million-dollar procurement deal with the military.
