THE role of the military has risen to the top of the political agenda as Zimbabwe’s fractious coalition debates the prospect of fresh elections in 2013 or, if President Robert Mugabe has his way, before then. The question haunting members of the MDC, the opposition party that joined Mugabe’s Zanu PF in a coalition government after violently disputed elections in 2008, is how the security establishment will react if the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister, wins and becomes commander-in-chief. Serving and former commanders have been making menacing comments. Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba, a commander in the national army, once accused Tsvangirai of being a “national security threat” and stooge of Western powers. He added in comments to the Herald, the state newspaper, that: “We will die for him (Mugabe) to make sure he remains in power.” Although many observers suggest such bellicose statements are posturing and that even Zanu PF has distance...
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