The Fifth Brigade was an elite unit of specially trained Zimbabwean soldiers. The Fifth Brigade was formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1988 after allegations of brutality and murder during the Brigade's occupation of Matabeleland. It was reformed later and was active in 2006 at least. In October 1980, President Robert Mugabe signed an agreement with the North Korean President, Kim Il Sung, that they would train and equip a brigade for the Zimbabwe National Army. In August 1981, 106 North Koreans arrived to train the new brigade. The members of the Fifth Brigade were drawn from 3500 ex-ZANLA troops, including two unintegrated ZANLA battalions, at Tongogara Assembly Point. There were a few ZIPRA troops in the unit initially, but they were withdrawn before the end of the training. It has been reported that there were also some foreigners in the unit, possibly Tanzanians. The training of Fifth Brigade lasted until September 1982, when Minister Sekeramayi announced training was complete...
Mugabe will be removed by politicians who will surmount the fear of death and breathe courage to the population. Leaders, who will, with their trusted people power and large numbers, demolish Mugabe’s thin fortresses of violence and extract freedom and justice from the sinking regime. In his lifetime, Mugabe must see the colour of defeat, taste the bitter cup of justice and smell the freedom of his victims. The many Zanu PF hardliners who continue to show fanatical and near cultic support for Mugabe are not Zimbabweans who love and honour “a dear leader.” It is a collection of fearful beneficiaries of Mugabe’s violence, corruption, patronage and pillage who stand to lose their freedom, wealth and even lives in the case of his departure. These are Mugabe’s zealots who have raped, murdered, robbed and stolen in the name of Mugabe and are most likely to be thrown into extremism upon Mugabe’s death and run down Zimbabwe in a bloody civil war if not managed strategically by the politic...
After six weeks serializing the leaked 2001 list of CIO agents working in and outside Zimbabwe, SW Radio Africa will begin publishing a supplementary list of agents who, for various reasons, might not have been on the previous document. Andrew Muzonzini reported to be a Director (Internal) in the CIO hit the headlines in 2008. Filippo Marucchi-Chierro, a farmer originally from Italy and owner of a farm in Trelawney, recounted how Muzonzini, “describing himself as the Political Commissar of the CIO” drove onto his property on the 12th September 2008. Andrew, a younger brother to ex-CIO Director-General retired Brigadier Elisha Muzonzini, demanded that Marucchi-Chierro leave the farm even though it had not been listed for acquisition. It was during an argument over this illegal eviction that he produced an AK-47 rifle, pointed it at the farmer and shouted: "The only thing you guys (white farmers) will understand is if we use this." Also on the list is Innocent Chib...
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