By Dorrothy Moyo | ZimEye | 4 June 2025

Harare – The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) has announced a three-day field training exercise in residential suburbs of Harare, sparking public concern and evoking memories of the dramatic military intervention that toppled the late former President Robert Mugabe in 2017.

In a notice issued by Colonel Hlengiwe Dube, the army’s Director of Public Relations, the ZNA confirmed that it will be conducting daytime military drills from 3 to 6 June in Glen View, Glen Norah, Kuwadzana, Dzivarasekwa, Mt Hampden, and Westgate. Key military movements will take place along Solomon Mujuru Road (formerly Kirkman Road).

“The exercise will be conducted during daytime and will not affect the general public’s daily routine. The public is therefore requested not to panic,” read the statement, describing the exercise as a routine part of maintaining operational readiness.

However, the presence of troops in Harare’s western suburbs has stirred unease among residents, many of whom recall how a similar “non-combative” military mobilisation preceded the November 2017 coup. Then, army tanks rolled into the capital under the guise of protecting national stability. Within days, Mugabe was placed under house arrest and later forced to resign, ending his 37-year rule.

The 2017 military action, led by then-General Constantino Chiwenga, was presented as a “military-assisted transition,” but critics and historians widely view it as a coup d’état. Chiwenga now serves as Zimbabwe’s Vice President.

While army officials insist this week’s training is pre-planned and not politically motivated, the timing—amid rising factional tensions in the ruling Zanu PF party—has raised eyebrows.

Citizens are advised to remain calm, allow military convoys to pass, and direct inquiries to the ZNA’s Public Relations office at Josiah Magama Tongogara Barracks.