The independent Zimbabwean radio station, Voice of the People, reported last week that Army commander, Lt Gen Phillip Sibanda, was heckled by soldiers from the Presidential Guard, unhappy over wages. The soldiers had been expecting a top-up to their wages to allow them to pay school fees. Sibanda went to the Harare barracks to tell the soldiers not only that there was no top-up, but also that their regular wages would be late.
A fortnight earlier ZimDaily reported that a petition had been drawn up by soldiers at the Army headquarters protesting at low salaries and threatening "a highly likely failure of us to report for duty or take orders as required by the law". Despite a massive pay rise at the beginning of the year, a rank and file soldier's wage is now little more than the cost of a loaf of bread on the black market. The brief petition was printed on fliers and "thrown round the barracks".
Over the years there have been reports of rumblings in the armed forces. Organised acts of protest may mean that disaffection is reaching a new level.
