THREE senior
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) directors were yesterday fired, while
two others were re-assigned in the latest round of fresh purges, as
President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa’s restless administration continues to
remove senior security officers accused of being sympathetic to their ex-bosses
and former president Robert Mugabe.
This has
unleashed a new wave of suspicions, tensions and instability in the security
establishment as the internal political power struggles in the Mnangagwa
government continue to manifest themselves in various ways.
The move comes
amid escalating tensions between Mnangagwa and his ambitious deputy, retired
army commander General Constantino Chiwenga who, as the Zimbabwe Independent
reported last week, is manoeuvring to position himself to wrest power from his
boss. Security forces are critical to the intensifying battle between the two
and their militarised factions.
Those who were
fired from the CIO From yesterday for allegedly being too close to former CIO
director-general Happyton Bonyongwe, who is also former Justice minister, and
Mugabe include director-counter intelligence, Musafare Nyamudahondo,
director-technical department Charles Hwekwete and director-economics Jimias
Madzingira.
“There was an
internal circular written on Wednesday which announced that three directors
have been dismissed, while two were redeployed from the external branch to the
security department, and from security to administration,” an intelligence
source said.
“Nyamudahondo,
Hwekwete and Madzingira are now out. The first two are said to be close to the
Mugabe family and Bonyongwe respectively, while the third one is Bonyongwe’s
brother-in-law as he is the brother to his wife Willia Bonyongwe née
Madzingira. Hwekwete worked with Bonyongwe in the army.”
Bonyongwe was
linked to the Zanu PF G40 faction which was crushed in the military coup last
November, although he originally belonged to the late retired army commander
General Solomon Mujuru’s ruling party factional group. Mujuru is believed to
have been killed in the Mugabe succession battles. Mugabe supported G40, which
was led by his wife Grace.
Since new CIO
director-general Isaac Moyo came in December after the coup, there have been
repeated purges and changes in the intelligence service. Before his
appointment, Moyo had been Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa. Intelligence
sources say Mnangagwa and his allies, including Moyo, are determined to weed
out G40 remnants in the security sector, government and Zanu PF in a bid to
ensure loyalty and trust in state institutions and their political
organisation.
In February,
Mnangagwa initiated the biggest purge of CIO officers when he fired 17 senior
operatives for allegedly being loyal to Mugabe.
Among those dismissed
at the beginning of the year were director-security Albert Ngulube,
director-external Andrew Muzonzini, Kizito Gweshe deputy director counter
intelligence and Tadzingaira Tachivei, assistant director counter intelligence,
who was recently arrested over alleged links to Mugabe, the former president’s
aide de camp Wonder Nyakurima and many others. Zimbabwe Independent
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