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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces is Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and the national defence organisations.
Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces | |
---|---|
since 18 December 2017 | |
Ministry of Defence | |
Reports to | Minister of Defence |
Appointer | President of Zimbabwe |
Formation | 1977 |
First holder | Peter Walls |
During May 1977, a Combined Operations headquarters (or "Comops" as it was referred to) was formed to direct the activities of all Rhodesian Security Forces. Prior to this, each service had its own command structure and active operations were co-ordinated, at a local level, through Joint Operation Commands (or JOCs). The first (and only) Commander Comops was Lieut.-General G. Peter Walls, former head of the Rhodesian Army. Air Marshal 'Mick' J. McLaren was Deputy Commander.[1][page needed]
No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Walls GLM, DCD, MBE (1926–2010) | Lieutenant General1977 | 1980 | 2–3 years | [2] |
Following the electoral victory of Robert Mugabe's ZANU party on 4 March 1980 a Joint High Command was established to oversee the integration of the former warring armies. Lieut.-General Peter Walls (former Commander of the Rhodesian Combined Operations) was appointed as Chairman of the Joint High Command. Other members included: Lieut.-General A. C. L. ‘Sandy’ Maclean (former Commander Zimbabwe-Rhodesian Army); Air Vice-Marshal Frank Mussell (former Commander Zimbabwe-Rhodesian Air Force); ‘Lieut.-General’ Lookout Masuku (former Commander Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army, ZIPRA); ‘Lieut.-General’ Solomon T. Mujuru, alias Rex Nhongo (former Commander Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, ZANLA); and Mr Alan Page (Secretary of Defence).[3]
No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Walls GLM, DCD, MBE (1926–2010) | Lieutenant GeneralMarch 1980 | July 1980 | 4 months |
In July 1980 Lieut-General Walls resigned and was exiled from Zimbabwe. Lieut-General ‘Sandy’ Maclean was appointed by then Prime Minister Mugabe as the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces on 8 August 1980, and promoted to General.[4]
No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Andrew 'Sandy' Maclean (?–2019) | General8 August 1980 | 31 July 1982 | 1 year, 357 days | [5] | |
2 | Solomon Mujuru (1949–2011) | General1 August 1982 | 1992 | 10–11 years | [6] | |
3 | Vitalis Zvinavashe (1943–2009) | GeneralJuly 1994 | 31 December 2003 | 9 years, 5 months | [7] | |
4 | Constantino Chiwenga (born 1956) | General1 January 2004 | 19 December 2017 | 13 years, 352 days | [8] | |
5 | Philip Valerio Sibanda | General19 December 2017 | Incumbent | 6 years, 259 days | [9] |
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