INTRODUCTION

Defending the territorial integrity of a sovereign state is the pillar of any defence policy. It is particularly this principle which has guided the activities of the Zimbabwe Defence Force (ZDF) and has underpinned its contribution towards the achievement of political stability in Zimbabwe. The achievement of political stability has also made it possible for the country to contribute towards the promotion of peace and security within the wider Southern African region.

FORMATION OF THE ZDF

The ZDF came into being after the integration of the armed wings of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) and the former Rhodesian Security Forces. The process leading to the formation of the ZDF was difficult, calling for patience, tolerance and determination by everyone involved, to achieve success. The new Government of Zimbabwe, being aware that it would take time to dispel the culture of distrust and suspicion which had developed over the years of the liberation war, declared a policy of national reconciliation. This policy created a political platform for the forging of a single national defence force from three different armies. There were approximately 60 000 ZANLA and ZIPRA combatants in Assembly Points (APs) throughout the country, and 15 000 Rhodesian Security Forces confined in barracks. These men and women were all anxious about their future. A speedy integration process, therefore, was urgently called for.

A Joint High Command (JHC), comprising high ranking officers from all three groups, was formed to supervise the command and control of troops in APs and barracks. The JHC was to supervise the implementation of the amalgamation process, a mammoth task to undertake on its own. The Government of Zimbabwe consequently requested the British Government to provide advisors from the British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT) to complement the JHC’s efforts in the integration process. The task ahead for the JHC and BMATT was a unique combined effort in the history of arms, which called for rigorous impartiality and a sensitive approach to the process of integration.

In response to the Government of Zimbabwe’s determination to consolidate peace, the integration process had to be accelerated without compromising military efficiency. Emphasis was placed on battalion formation and leader training. Troops were divided into command and/or unit elements, with the command elements undergoing four week training courses at the Zimbabwe Military Academy. Command recommendations at all levels were referred to the JHC for ratification and arbitration, if necessary. This process was followed by grouping the command elements with their troops, who had also been trained at the Infantry Training Depots. Following this, integrated battalions underwent four months of training before being regarded as basically operational. By the end of the integration exercise in October 1981, 1 400 leader cadres had been trained, and more than forty battalions were under instruction. The ZDF thus assumed a formal shape.

PROBLEMS IN THE INTEGRATION PROCESS

Yet, some problems were also encountered during the integration process. Firstly, sustaining combatants administratively and logistically in APs, while awaiting integration, was a large task, putting a severe strain on available resources. Failure to meet the requirements of those in the APs could easily have been misconstrued as a deliberate ploy to abandon them at the most crucial moment in their lives. To ensure that they were content and remained patient in awaiting their turn to be integrated, every combatant had to be paid a monthly allowance and provided with free rations.

Despite meeting the basic needs of combatants in the APs, command and control also created problems, since there was no proper code of conduct to govern the behaviour expected of the combatants. As a result, a lack of discipline prevailed in the camps, sometimes degenerating into mutinous acts. However, the swift reaction of the JHC contained most of these incidences before they could escalate to serious proportions.

The next major problem was to find suitable programmes to occupy the combatants, rather than leaving them with nothing to do. An attempt was made to introduce Operation Seed (Soldiers Employed in Economic Development), but this programme failed due to a lack of resources. Since Operation Seed was more related to agricultural activities, participation in the programme was misconstrued by combatants as a way of labelling them as being unsuitably qualified to join the new defence force. The only way to overcome the problem of idleness was to speed up the integration process. Nevertheless, available resources could only cater for the integration process within certain restrictions.

Thus, voluntary demobilisation was introduced as a means of reducing the numbers of combatants in the camps. The concept was well received and many combatants chose to leave after receiving a demobilisation package. The problems experienced during this process emphasised the need for the continuous flow of information, to explain the progress of the integration process to those concerned. Lines of communication for former combatants must always remain open.

In March 1981, towards the end of the integration process, Mr Emmerson Munangagwa Chairman of the Zimbabwe Joint High Command and Minister of State Security, declared that "[t]he creation of our own Defence Forces in Zimbabwe has been conditioned by circumstances nowhere else encountered, either in Africa or indeed in the World." By 1982, the military integration was completed and the structure of the ZDF established. By 1987, the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was capable of training at Brigade level, and the Staff College was offering advanced Command and Staff training. During the same period, the ZNA carried out internal security operations against rebellious elements in the Matebeleland Province, in the south-western part of Zimbabwe, while simultaneously deploying a task force to Mozambique to protect the country’s trade routes to the Indian Ocean.

ZIMBABWEAN DEFENCE POLICY

Zimbabwe’s defence policy was formulated simultaneously with the formation of the ZDF. Its main purpose remains to maintain the freedom and territorial integrity of Zimbabwe and to contribute to the promotion of regional and international peace through the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the United Nations(UN). Defence policy is in broader terms a dynamic element of national security policy to which foreign and economic policies also contribute. The domestic, regional and international political environments have always shaped the way in which the ZDF has responded to the country’s defence policy. During the years of transformation, the major focus in pursuing the goals of the defence policy was to ensure that peace was consolidated through successful integration. When the process was threatened with derailment by various factors, it became the responsibility of the defence force to ensure that the country’s transformation was protected against threats.

The subregion experienced great difficulties during the apartheid era. It was a challenge to the defence forces of the region, which were required to protect the territorial integrity of their states against external threats. Zimbabwe was no exception to the threat of destructive engagement eminating from the policy which was pursued by the former South African Government. The ZDF had to adjust to the political environment that prevailed at that time. As early as 1983, the ZDF found itself in border, internal security and external operations. The external operations, which were conducted in Mozambique, were mainly to protect trade routes to the sea. These routes, which were the major life-line of the country’s economy, were under threat from insurgents sponsored by the South African Government. In order to ensure socio-economic and political stability in the country, the ZDF had to deploy troops inside Mozambique at the request of the Mozambican Government. This was one of the major tasks undertaken by the ZDF, and its successful execution may be attributed partially to the excellent co-operation between both governments in their pursuit of common security objectives.

The end of the Cold War, and the realisation of political change in South Africa, ushered in a new political environment. A principal feature of this environment has been the need for regional groupings to co-operate on security issues as a means of promoting peace. Efforts to promote peace in the region are co-ordinated through the Inter-State Defence and Security Committee (ISDSC), of which Zimbabwe is a member. It is believed that the country’s participation in the ISDSC is vital to meeting Zimbabwe’s defence policy requirements, and also in contributing to the wider security concerns of the region.

Contributions to the promotion of international peace through the UN have been a major preoccupation of the ZDF since 1991. The ZDF’s first task was to contribute troops to the UN to serve as Military Observers in the Angolan peace process. Since then, the ZDF has taken part in observer and peacekeeping missions in Somalia and Rwanda.

The above highlights the main activities of the ZDF since its formation. It is through these activities that the nature of Zimbabwe’s defence policy becomes perceptible. The ZDF’s ability to respond to the dynamic changes in the political environment has been facilitated by proper training. It is through training that a defence force can develop officers and men who are capable of appreciating the strategic, socio-economic and political dimensions that influence the manner in which they carry out their tasks in support of their country’s defence policy. In response to the requirement to promote international peace, a Southern African Regional Peacekeeping Course is presented at the Zimbabwe Staff College, with the assistance of the British and Danish governments. The course is aimed at developing intellectual understanding of peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace-enforcement. The course offers, among others, the opportunity to participants from countries in the subregion to share ideas.

The aim of the ZDF is to develop the intellectual ability of members of the force on an ongoing basis, to enable them to understand the environment that influences their activities. Without in any way undermining peace, it is the conviction that Zimbabwe’s defence force must be trained and equipped to offer credible defence when circumstances call for it. In pursuing the country’s defence policy, such a stance is indispensable, since the threat of conflict endangers life, liberty and economic development.

ZDF STRUCTURES

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is organised as an administrative and strategic headquarters that delegates command of an operational nature to the ZNA and the Zimbabwe Air Force (ZAF). The Defence Force Headquarters falls within the MOD, and was formed in 1994 to provide central planning for both the ZNA and the ZAF. The objective of creating a central planning headquarters was to improve the central control of defence policy in order to achieve a better balance between the increasing range of factors to be considered in defence planning, operational requirements and research programmes. It also brought about closer co-ordination between the administrations of the two arms of service, and the rationalisation of their support requirements.

The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, in his capacity as the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force, has overall control of the ZDF and chairs the Defence Council. He has a minister who assists him with the running of the departmental Defence Committee, the legal controlling authority of the two services. The Defence Committee exercises powers of command and administrative control over the two services, and can act as a senior management board on defence policy issues.

Below this level, the MOD is divided into two departments, the ZDF Headquarters and the Permanent Secretary and his civilian staff. The Minister of Defence has two principal advisors: the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF), who is the principal Military Advisor, and the Permanent Secretary who is the principal Accounting Officer. The CDF is the most senior serving officer in the Defence Force, and is also the principal military advisor to the Government on all matters pertaining to strategy and military operations, and on the military implications of defence policy. The Permanent Secretary is the principal advisor to the Minister on financial and administrative matters. He is responsible to the Minister for the efficient conduct of business within the Ministry, including co-ordinating advice from other government departments. The Permanent Secretary is therefore accountable to Parliament for the proper use of funds granted to the MOD.

FUNCTIONS OF THE ZDF

The defence functions of the ZDF provide the framework for Zimbabwe’s defence policy. In the first place, the ZDF must ensure the protection and security of Zimbabwe, even when there is no major external threat. Secondly, it must provide military aid to civil ministries in the Government. A recent example of this kind of assistance provided by the ZDF, was the provision of transport to the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to deliver food to drought-stricken areas. The fulfilment of this obligation is facilitated by the fact that the ZDF is a member of the National Disaster Committee. The third function is the supply of military aid to the Civil Power, which is carried out in order to support the civil authorities, for instance if politically disgruntled elements try to use arms instead of the ballot to remove the present Government from power. It is the responsibility of the ZDF to assist the civil authorities in creating a peaceful political environment in the country. The fourth function is the provision of troops for external commitments in support of the maintenance of regional and international peace and security. To fulfil this role, the ZDF, through the Government of Zimbabwe, has participated in mandated observer missions and peacekeeping operations through the OAU and the UN.

CONCLUSION

The ZDF has come of age. However, as soldiers, its members still need to learn and to adapt to both regional and international political developments that, at present, demand closer co-operation among role-players on defence and security matters. In view of these demands, Zimbabwe’s defence and security matters are not pursued in isolation, but take full cognisance of the country’s obligations to regional and international security co-operation. Zimbabwe considers its participation in and contribution to the ISDSC as vital to the promotion of peace in the region. The country’s sustained support to the UN in promoting and maintaining peace through troop contributions will continue to be its major preoccupation. Finally, Zimbabwe is committed to remain conscious of the strategic socio-economic and political factors that influence the manner in which it responds to national defence and security issues.

Edited version of a paper read at the Angolan National Defence Symposium, Ministry of National Defence, Luanda, Angola, 27 March 1996.