HARARE – A top army general has been accused of having a hand in the theft of 30 tonnes of beef meant for the military’s Recruitment Training Depot in Mbalabala, Matabeleland South.
This comes amid allegations of a serious rift within the military with civilians, who mostly do administrative work like accounting and procurement, allegedly being victimised by senior soldiers who want to take their positions.
The army has been rocked by growing indiscipline and corruption allegations which has recently seen some soldiers being suspended and led to a top army chief warning that “we may cease to exist as a dependable Zimbabwe National Army” if no action is taken.
High level military sources revealed that Major General Hlabangani Dube, who is also the army Chief of Staff Quarter Master, is facing allegations of diverting the 30 tonnes meat away from the intended beneficiaries.
Memos and communication seen by this website show that Major General Dube is being accused diverting the meat to butcheries where it was sold before the money disappeared into private pockets.
A source said: “A few weeks ago, a driver was sent to deliver 30 tonnes of meat to the training school in Mbalabala and he brought the delivery note and the invoice but did not offload the meat.
“Investigations then led to the office of boss Dube and this touched raw nerves because most of these generals are engaged in murky deals and are reluctant to take action on Major General Dube. At the same time, the generals are targeting civilians working in administration because they want to run the procurement business.
“The 30 tonnes of stolen meat is small change considering the dirty deals by the army top brass elsewhere. What is striking is that at the barracks, soldiers are starving while their meat is being diverted by the bosses. It’s a scam which needs the immediate intervention of the ZACC (the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission).”
The generals and other high-ranking soldiers say they are untouchable after helping President Emmerson Mnangagwa stage a coup which ousted former leader Robert Mugabe in November 2017.
Already, the army’s director of finance Denson Muvandi, a civilian, fled to South Africa recently fearing for his life with senior soldiers baying for his blood after accusing him of blocking their lucrative deals.
Sources claim the top brass came up with trumped up charges of theft against the finance director.
There are also allegations that another Brigadier General allegedly stole an army bus and sold it to a private transport operator. The case only came to light when the operator availed the bus to Zupco for the government’s urban public transport programme.
Said a military official: “The industrial-scale theft has reached another level, and it primitive looting at the highest levels. We wish General (Phillip) Sibanda would intervene. I mean how does someone steal a whole bus and not get arrested?
“We understand that maybe it’s a no-go area for the police but then ZACC must come in.”
In September last year, Major General Paul Chima, the Chief of Staff – Quartermaster Staff, warned that indiscipline in the army had reached alarming levels.
“The major cases include absenteeism without leave (AWOL), stealing of army rations, illegal prospecting of minerals, assault, drunkenness, misuse of military uniform and public violence among other vices,” Chima said, speaking at a handover-takeover ceremony of outgoing Commander of Imbizo Barracks, Colonel Rantham Moyo, and incoming Commander Colonel Cravan Nkiwane.
He added: “It cannot be over-emphasised that discipline forms the backbone of the army and if it continues to deteriorate at the current levels, then we may cease to exist as a dependable Zimbabwe National Army.”
ZimLive has reached out to the military and Major General Dube for a comment and this story will be updated when their reaction is received.
In March last year, Major General Dube spoke out against the things he is now accused of.
“Ours is a professional army and must remain as such,” he said at a handover-takeover parade for the incoming and outgoing Commander Harare District.
“Discipline is the chief cornerstone of every military facet and as such let’s shun all tendencies of abuse of military uniform, corruption, gold panning, extortion, theft, fraud, robbery and abuse of social media.”
