By- President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed Lieutenant General Anselem Sanyatwe as Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA).

Brigadier Sanyatwe ordered soldiers to shoot and kill civilians protesting against the delayed announcement of the 2018 elections, resulting in the death of six innocent people on 1 August 2018 in Harare.

In a press statement released this Friday, 20 October, the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Martin Rushwaya, said the appointment follows the retirement of the outgoing Commander of the ZNA, Lieutenant General David Sigauke. He said:

His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Cde Dr. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa has, with immediate effect and in terms of section 216(2) as read with sections 89 and 110(2)g of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20), appointed Lieutenant General Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe to the position of Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army.

The appointment follows the retirement of the outgoing Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, Lieutenant General David Sigauke.

Lieutenant General Sanyatwe is a former commander of the Presidential Guard. 

In December 2018, Sanyatwe was promoted to the rank of Major General.

He left the ZNA on 29 May 2019 to become Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Tanzania.

Lieutenant General Sanyatwe is married to Chido Sanyatwe, a ZANU PF Member of Parliament and the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs.