General Constantino Chiwenga, who led the Zimbabwean military ouster of long-term leader Robert Mugabe, will quit the army, the government said.
Chiwenga will depart while awaiting “redeployment” to another position, according to an emailed statement by the government on Monday which didn’t give further details on his next assignment.
General Philip Valerio Sibanda, who commanded Zimbabwe’s ground forces, will now become the armed forces commander, replacing Chiwenga, cabinet secretary Mishek Sibanda said in the statement.
The government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa also announced the retirement of Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri, seen as an ally of Mugabe’s wife, Grace, who led a rival faction of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party.
-Bloomberg
