By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has named a retired major general, Emmanuel Matatu, as the country’s new army chief ahead of an anti-government protest on Monday, which has raised fears of a possible coup.
The 31 March protest was called by a group of war veterans, largely former allies of Mnangagwa, who want to force him to resign.
Matatu, 72, hails from Mnangagwa’s home province of Midlands but is little known.
According to political analyst Eldred Masunungure, the profile and age of the new army chief suggest that he has been appointed to “warm the chair” during a volatile transition, the BBC reported.
“He is the fourth commander of the Zimbabwe National Army since Mnangagwa took over less than eight years ago,” the BBC quoted Masunungure as saying, adding: “It tells a long story of unstable party-military relations.”
Matatu, a veteran of the 1970s liberation war, is still believed to wield significant influence in Zimbabwean politics.
Earlier in the week, Mnangagwa sacked his army chief, Lt Gen Anselem Sanyatwe, reassigning him as Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture.
Mnangagwa, who took office after a military coup that ousted longtime ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017, is facing growing opposition within his ZANU-PF party, which has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980.
The war veterans accuse him of worsening the country’s economic crisis and plotting to extend his rule beyond 2028, when his second term is due to end.
The new army chief is seen as a loyalist of the current head of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), Philip Valerio Sibanda, who is also a war veteran.
The ZDF was previously led by Constantino Chiwenga, who is now the Vice President of the Southern African country.
The faction of war veterans calling for Monday’s protest wants Chiwenga to take over the presidency.
