HARARE – Zimbabwe is buying arms from China in exchange for mining and farming concessions, prompting fears that the army is planning a coup in the event of an election defeat for President Robert Mugabe.
The shipment of heavy assault rifles, military vehicles and tanks, riot equipment, tear gas and rubber batons is being secretly moved through the port of Beira in Mozambique.
The purchase, confirmed by a Chinese defence journal this week, confirms information given to Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi three weeks ago by an opposition delegation.
The MDC delegation, led by Home Affairs Shadow Minister Sam Sipepa-Nkomo, told the Minister that it had information the ruling party had ordered weapons from South Africa.
That purchase, however, was scuttled by President Thabo Mbeki, who refused to okay the sale arguing it was in breach of international protocols banning the sale of weapons of war to fuel conflict.
Andrei Chang, Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese army’s Kanwa Defense Review, based in Hong Kong wrote last Friday: “Zimbabwe is already acquiring stocks of Chinese weapons. The country’s main battle tanks are virtually all made in China. At present, the Zimbabwe Army is equipped with 30 Type 59 tanks and 10 Type 69 tanks, and more than half of its armoured transport vehicles are Chinese-made Type 63s. The Zimbabwe Air Force is also armed with nine J-7 fighters.” Â
Army officials and the Defence Minister, Sydney Sekeramayi, have declined to comment on the arms purchase. Â
Defence sources said the equipment would ensure the army was well equipped in case Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) loses the ballot and needs military help to hold on to power. Â
Senior military officials have vowed that they would not salute a new president without revolutionary credentials and warned the army would stage a coup if Mugabe were voted out of power in favour of his main opponent Morgan Tsvangirai. Â
But the army’s ability to take power and keep order has been severely curtailed by a United States and European Union arms embargo imposed in 2002. – Chief Reporter
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