{"id":431563,"date":"2011-05-27T20:30:25","date_gmt":"2011-05-27T20:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/"},"modified":"2011-05-27T20:30:25","modified_gmt":"2011-05-27T20:30:25","slug":"army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Army General Calls for Elections in 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

SW Radio Africa<\/a> (London)<\/p>\n

Tichaona Sibanda<\/p>\n

27 May 2011<\/p>\n

\n

A Brigadier-General in the Zimbabwe National Army has declared that Robert Mugabe should remain in office for life and called on elections to be held this year.<\/p>\n

Douglas Nyikayaramba, the commander of the Mutare based 3 Brigade, told the weekly Zimbabwe Independent that a poll this year would ensure ‘political stability’ as ZANU PF would win the election.<\/p>\n

But it’s an open secret that every time there is an election in Zimbabwe, the military elite unleash its forces on members of the MDC, and innocent civilians across the country, at the request of ZANU PF.<\/p>\n

Dewa Mavhinga, the regional co-ordinator for Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, South Africa told SW Radio Africa on Friday that the General’s remarks confirms their position of the urgent need for security sector reform.<\/p>\n

The constitutional role of the security forces is to defend the country against external and internal security threats and not get involved in politics.<\/p>\n

But Mavhinga said; ‘The conduct of some of the officers and men of the Army is openly and blatantly partisan on the side of ZANU PF. It is very clear that this statement is meant to incite the people of Zimbabwe and to intimidate those who may wish to vote otherwise away from the choice that has been declared by Nyikayaramba of supporting ZANU PF and Mugabe.’<\/p>\n

He added; ‘This is the heart of the crisis of governance in Zimbabwe that the military leadership is partisan and excessively interferes in civilian and political affairs of the country.’<\/p>\n

Mavhinga said the general’s utterances have clearly shown how important it is for SADC to ensure there is security sector reform before any elections can be held in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

Civil Society Organisations in Zimbabwe have for long said one man, one vote will only prevail when the security institutions are neutral and are willing to provide an enabling environment for all parties, voters and stakeholders in the electioneering process.<\/p>\n

Public statements by police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri last week, in which he described Mugabe as God-given and a visionary leader, also showed the importance of security reforms before the next elections.<\/p>\n

However ZANU PF has declared it will not accept any proposals for security sector reform and this week said they had officially informed negotiators of this fact.<\/p>\n

Two years ago parliament passed a security bill, which established a National Security Council to oversee the military. Though this body meets monthly the old Joint Operations Command (JOC) still, unconstitutionally, meets Mugabe on a weekly basis.<\/p>\n

Analysts argue that JOC operates outside government parameters and has taken over most of the levers of state power and coercion. In March Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai suggested that Mugabe was no longer in charge of the country.<\/p>\n

Tsvangirai said many of the issues that he and Mugabe agree to during their weekly Monday meetings are often later reversed, ostensibly by security chiefs. But other commentators feel that Mugabe plays the ‘good cop, bad cop’ role, where he appears to be agreeing to democratic reforms, knowing full well his security forces will ensure this can never happen.<\/p>\n

But there are reports that suggest South African President Jacob Zuma is ready to take a strong position on security sector reform with Mugabe.<\/p>\n

The Zimbabwe crisis will be discussed during a SADC session on Zimbabwe to be held in Johannesburg next month.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nMore News on allAfrica.com<\/strong><\/legend>\n<\/fieldset>\n

AllAfrica – All the Time<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Read more here:
\nArmy General Calls for Elections in 2011<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SW Radio Africa (London) Tichaona Sibanda 27 May 2011 A Brigadier-General in the Zimbabwe National Army has declared that Robert Mugabe should remain in office for life and called on elections to be held this year. Douglas Nyikayaramba, the commander of the Mutare based 3 Brigade, told the weekly Zimbabwe Independent that a poll this year would ensure ‘political stability’ as ZANU PF would win the election. But it’s an open secret that every time there is an election in Zimbabwe, the military elite unleash its forces on members of the MDC, and innocent civilians across the country, at the request of ZANU PF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nArmy General Calls for Elections in 2011 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Army General Calls for Elections in 2011 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"SW Radio Africa (London) Tichaona Sibanda 27 May 2011 A Brigadier-General in the Zimbabwe National Army has declared that Robert Mugabe should remain in office for life and called on elections to be held this year. Douglas Nyikayaramba, the commander of the Mutare based 3 Brigade, told the weekly Zimbabwe Independent that a poll this year would ensure 'political stability' as ZANU PF would win the election. But it's an open secret that every time there is an election in Zimbabwe, the military elite unleash its forces on members of the MDC, and innocent civilians across the country, at the request of ZANU PF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Army General Calls for Elections in 2011\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-27T20:30:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/\"},\"wordCount\":588,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/\",\"name\":\"Army General Calls for Elections in 2011 - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-27T20:30:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Army General Calls for Elections in 2011 - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Army General Calls for Elections in 2011 - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"SW Radio Africa (London) Tichaona Sibanda 27 May 2011 A Brigadier-General in the Zimbabwe National Army has declared that Robert Mugabe should remain in office for life and called on elections to be held this year. Douglas Nyikayaramba, the commander of the Mutare based 3 Brigade, told the weekly Zimbabwe Independent that a poll this year would ensure 'political stability' as ZANU PF would win the election. But it's an open secret that every time there is an election in Zimbabwe, the military elite unleash its forces on members of the MDC, and innocent civilians across the country, at the request of ZANU PF","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Army General Calls for Elections in 2011","datePublished":"2011-05-27T20:30:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/"},"wordCount":588,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/","name":"Army General Calls for Elections in 2011 - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-05-27T20:30:25+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/27\/army-general-calls-for-elections-in-2011\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}