News
New army boss appointed
Matatu replaces the retired Lieutenant-General Anselem Sanyatwe who is now Sports minister after the departure of Kirsty Coventry, the recently-elected new International Olympic president.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed Major-General (Chief-Of-Staff- Administration ) Emmanuel Matatu as a Lieutenant-General and Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) commander, replacing Lieutenant General Anselem Sanyatwe who was abruptly removed on Tuesday ahead of planned protests on March 31.
Matatu replaces the retired Sanyatwe who is now Sports minister after the departure of Kirsty Coventry, the recently-elected new International Olympic president.
Matatu, 72, is a former ZPRA officer who spent more than 20 years as Brigadier General and was only promoted 2 years ago
Past retirement age, Matatu is likely just warming the chair.
Matatu, then a Brigade-General, was promoted by Mnangagwa to Major-General in 2021 when Lieutenant-General David Sigauke became ZNA commander in July that year.
Sigauke had replaced the late Lt-Gen Edzai Chimonyo who died in July 2021.
Chimonyo had taken over from General Philip Valerio Sibanda when he was promoted to Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander in 2017.
Sibanda had replaced retired General Constantino Chiwenga, who is now Vice-President, at the helm of the army.
