'Chiwenga inspires African armies to commit coup'

The successful November 2017 coup that that ended 37 years of President Robert Mugabe's iron rule has inspired African armies to wade into the political arena analysts have said.

The bloody coup that claimed the life of CIO Boss Peter Munetsi was waged by Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and other army generals.

South African based political analyst Fortune Mlalazi said, "What we are seeing sweeping across Africa is a renewed wave of military excitement taking place. You will understand that the Zimbabwean coup was widely publicised all over the world and because of the sophisticated nature on how it was implemented many armies got the idea that it is possible to use the gun and remove a civilian government without any consequence."

Mlalazi added that in a constitutional democracy the army belongs to the barracks.


"You will agree with me that the army belongs to the barrack and they have to be under a civilian government. Their role is to protect the territorial integrity of the country and to conduct rescue missions as requested by the civilian government.

"The major challenge that I am seeing about our African Union is that it is an organisation that has become impotent and has been reduced to a trade union of Africa despots. Take for example the fact that AU meets only once a year to sign agreements that they have no capacity to implement hence you are seeing these coups and attempted coups. With all the political turbulence in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and DRC you would expect constant meetings followed by serious follow ups.

"The only organ that seems active is ECOWAS when it comes to stopping despots and coup plotters. "

Mlalazi further questioned the rotation of seats in regional bodies such as SADC which recently gave President Emmerson Mnangagwa the powerful Troika seat while his country is in political upheaval

Recently Ethiopia's General  who was among a group of high-ranking military officers released from prison early last year when the government moved to free political detainees in response to public pressure attempted to commit a coup which was foiled.

Over the weekend the Malawi Defense Forces joined the protestors and stopped the police who were trying to beat up citizens.

Communications studies scholar Adetunji Omotola said the African Union must be consistent in applying its rules regarding coups.

"In January there was a coup attempt in Gabon and in June Ethiopia gets embroiled in an attempted coup which has resulted in the deaths of a couple of Generals. Are these coupists living on another planet? My sense is that they are probably buoyed by the success of the Zimbabwe coup that was 'not a coup' which brought Emerson Mnangagwa and Gen. Constantino Chiwenga to power.

"The AU must be consistent in applying its rules on coups. Any unconstitutional means of taking over a govt no matter how sexy or bloodless or just is a coup d'etat. Let's pray for Abiy Ahmed. Abiy is an Oromo and he is a transformational figure. The coup attempt happened in the Amarha region. There has been sweeping changes made by Abiy Ahmed since he came to power after his predecessor Hailemariam Desalegn resigned and my sense is folks are not happy with him. Ethiopia must not fall into the hands of military men. Many of us cannot forget the brutal dictatorship of Mengistu."