By Political Reporter- The Zanu PF government has declared Brigadier General (Retired) Victor Rungani a national hero, sparking outrage over the state’s continued glorification of men with blood-soaked legacies.
Rungani, who led a reign of terror in Mashonaland East during the infamous 2008 presidential run-off, died Tuesday in Harare after a short illness.
His hero status was announced by State Security Minister Lovemore Matuke at the Rungani family farm in Goromonzi, where relatives and community members had gathered.
Rungani was not just a soldier—he was one of the late President Robert Mugabe’s most feared enforcers.
In 2008, after Mugabe lost the first round of the presidential election to Morgan Tsvangirai, Rungani was deployed as part of a brutal military operation designed to reverse the outcome through sheer terror.
At the time, he was Director of the Zimbabwe National Army’s Engineering and Military Equipment Directorate. But instead of building bridges, Rungani was tasked with breaking spirits.
In Mashonaland East, he orchestrated mass beatings, abductions, and killings of MDC supporters—personally directing torture sessions and re-education camps known as pungwes.
His actions were part of a nationwide scorched-earth campaign coordinated by the Joint Operations Command (JOC), the shadowy military cabal that hijacked Zimbabwe’s electoral process under the guise of defending national sovereignty.
State media, however, glossed over this dark history—reporting only that Rungani died at Mbuya Dorcas Hospital and praising his role in military engineering.
No mention was made of the blood on his hands.
Born in Bikita, Masvingo province, Rungani was one of several senior commanders who turned villages into killing fields.
He operated alongside a terrifying cast of military men: Major General Engelbert Rugeje (Masvingo), Brigadier General David Sigauke (Mashonaland West), Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba (Manicaland), Air Vice Marshal Abu Basutu (Matabeleland South), Air Vice Marshal Henry Muchena (Harare), Brigadier General Sibusiso Moyo (Midlands), Brigadier General Sibangumuzi Khumalo (Matabeleland North), Brigadier General Etherton Shungu (Mashonaland Central), Colonel Chris Sibanda (Bulawayo), and Air Commodore Mike Tichafa Karakadzai (Harare).
Together, backed by the Central Intelligence Organisation and more than 80,000 youth militia, they launched a nationwide campaign of violence that ultimately forced Tsvangirai to withdraw from the run-off.
This campaign was not only political—it was deeply personal, systematic, and savage.
It left hundreds dead, thousands injured or raped, and entire communities traumatised.
While Rungani’s death closes one chapter, it reopens another a chapter of unanswered questions and unhealed wounds.
It reminds Zimbabweans that the men who destroyed democracy and violated the people have never been brought to justice.
Rungani’s name, like those of his fellow commanders, may now appear in the National Heroes Acre—but in the hearts of many Zimbabweans, it is etched in infamy.